^^^:SHforpRii^ 


BR  127  .S68  1837 
Sprague,  William  Buell, 
Lectures  illustrating  the 
contrast  between  true 


LECTURES 


ILLUSTRATING  THE  CONTRAST 


BETWEEN 


TRUE   CHRISTIANITY 


VARIOUS  OTHER  SYSTEMS. 


By  WILLIAM  B.  SPRAGUE,  D.D. 

^riNTSTEK    OF    THE     SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CONGREGATION    IN     ALBANV 


x^EVV-YORK: 

DANIIZL    APPLETON    &:.    CO.    200    BKOADWAY. 

1837. 


Entered  according  to  the  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year   1837,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  Co. 

In  tlie  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Soulherii 
District  of  New-York. 


Pnrkard  &.  Van  Bcathtiysen.  Prio'.ers,  Albany. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

LECTURE  I. 

Christianity  contrasted  with  Atheism, 1 

LECTURE  II. 

Christianity  contrasted  with  Paganism, ,     39 

LECTURE  lit. 

Christianity  contrasted  with  Deism, 73 

LECTURE  IV. 
Christianity  contrasted  with  Mohamedism, 117 

LECTURE  V. 

Protestant  Christianity  contrasted  with  Romanism,  173 

LECTURE  VI. 

Evangelical  Christianity  contrasted  with  Unitari- 

ANISM, 251 

LECTURE  VII. 
Practical  Christianity  contrasted  with  Antinomian- 

ISM, 311 

LECTURE  VIIL 

Experimental  Christianity  contrasted  with  Formal- 
ism, Sentimentalism  and  Fanaticism, 355 


PREFACE, 


If  Christianity  be  what  it  claims  to  be — the 
only  religion  that  supplies  an  antidote  to  hu- 
man guilt,  or  restores  the  purity  of  human  na- 
ture, it  becomes  a  matter  of  infinite  moment 
to  every  individual  to  understand  the  grounds 
on  which  it  rests  and  the  truths  which  it  re- 
veals. And  as  errour  is  dangerous  in  propor- 
tion as  truth  is  valuable,  it  is  no  less  important 
that  we  distinguish  accurately  between  the  one 
and  the  other ;  that  we  do  not  recognise  as 
the  legitimate  offspring  of  Heaven,  systems 
which  have  had  their  origin  in  the  blindness  of 
human  Reason,  or  the  seductive  influence  of 
human  depravity.  The  following  Lectures 
are  designed  to  secure  this  double  object ;  to 
bring  out  True  Christianity  in  its  glorious  at- 
tractions, and  especially  to  exalt  it  by  a  com- 
parison with  other  systems  which  have  stood 


VI  PREFACE. 

forth  against  it  in  the  attitude  of  opposition  or 
rivalry,  and  to  erect  a  barrier  against  the  re- 
ception of  those  other  systems,  by  exhibiting 
them  as  miserably  defective  on  the  one  hand, 
and  grossly  erroneous  on  the  other. 

It  has  been  found  impossible,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  this  plan,  wholly  to  avoid  repetition ; 
nor  has  it  been  thought  desirable  even  to  at- 
tempt it.  As  the  same  general  views  of  Chris- 
tianity stand  opposed  to  various  forms  of 
errour,  these  views  have  necessarily  been 
introduced  in  different  discourses  with  such 
modifications  as  the  nature  of  the  subject 
seemed  to  demand.  The  design  has  been,  so 
far  as  was  consistent  with  the  prescribed  limits 
of  the  work,  to  render  the  discussion  of  each 
topick  complete  in  itself. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  author  originally 
to  have  referred  to  particular  authorities  for 
the  various  facts  which  are  introduced  in  seve- 
ral of  these  Lectures ;  and  he  has  been  deter- 
red from  doing  so  only  by  having  found  that 
they  are  so  much  the  common  property  of  al- 
most all  the  writers  by  whom  these  subjects 
have  been  treated,  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  they 
might  with  as  good  reason  be  credited  to  one 
as  to  another.  In  the  Lecture  on  Mohamedism 
there  will  be  found  some  coincidence  with  the 
general  train  of  thought  in  White's  Bampton 


PREFACE.  Vii 

Lectures  ;  but,  while  the  author  refers  to  that 
work  as  authority  for  some  of  the  particular 
facts  which  he  has  presented,  it  is  due  to  him- 
self to  state  that  the  whole  outline  of  the  Lec- 
ture in  its  present  form  had  been  prepared  be- 
fore the  book  fell  into  his  hands.  In  the 
Lecture  on  Romanism  he  has  availed  himself 
more  particularly  of  one  or  two  small,  but  in- 
valuable, works  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hartwell 
Home,  whose  researches  in  various  depart- 
ments of  Bibhcal  learning  and  Ecclesiastical 
History,  have  laid  the  church  under  deep 
and  perpetual  obligation.  In  the  Lecture  on 
Antinomianism  he  was  not  a  little  embarrassed 
from  the  Protean  character  of  that  heresy,  or 
rather  from  the  different  degrees  in  which  it  is 
found  to  exist;  but  he  became  convinced  upon 
reflection,  that  the  only  form  in  which  it  could 
be  successfully  encountered  was  that  of  a  dis- 
tinct and  fully  developed  system.  Those  who 
will  look  into  Andrew  Fuller's  writings  on  this 
subject  will  perceive  that  this  was  the  form  in 
which  it  existed  in  England  in  his  time ;  and 
the  author  has  been  assured  by  several  gentle- 
men of  great  intelligence  who  have  been  con- 
versant with  it  both  in  Great  Britain  and  in 
our  own  country,  that  the  views  which  are 
here  presented  are  fully  justified  by  the  results 
of  their  personal  observation. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


These  Lectures  were  originally  delivered  in 
the  hearing  of  the  congregation  with  which 
the  author  is  more  immediately  connected ; 
and  they  are  now  given  to  the  world  in  the 
hope  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  they  may 
form  some  humble  defence  against  the  seduc- 
tions of  errour,  while  they  serve  to  illustrate 
the  claims,  and  extend  the  influence,  of  genu- 
ine Christianity. 

Albany,  April  12/A,  1837. 


LECTURE  I, 


CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH  ATHEISM. 


Romans  i.   16. 
/  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

IN   CONNEXION   WITH 

Ephesians  II.   12. 

Without  God  in  the  world. 

From  the  former  of  these  passages  we  learn  in  what  es- 
timation Christianity  was  held  by  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  And  when  we  remember  who  the  Apostle  was, 
and  what  he  had  been,  and  what  were  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  made  this  triumphant  declaration,  it  is  im- 
possible to  consider  it  otherwise  than  as  a  most  decisive 
testimony  to  the  divinity  of  our  religion.  You  all  know 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  gifted  and  accomplished 
men  of  his  age;  that  he  had  once  regarded  Christianity 
with  utter  abhorrence,  and  hunted  its  votaries  to  prison 
and  to  death  ; — and  yet  that  all  his  prejudices  against  it 
had  melted  away  under  the  experience  he  had  had  of 
its  transforming  power,  and  a  desire  to  vindicate  its  ho- 
nours and  extend  its  influence  had  become  the  ruling  pas- 
sion of  his  heart.     Hence  we  find  that,  in  the  prospect 

1 


^  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

of  paying  a  visit  to  the  city  of  Rome, — the  emporium  of 
the  world,  wher^  philosophy,  and  luxury,  and  sensuality, 
and  every  thing  that  is  adverse  to  the  gospel,  must  be 
encountered, — he  declares  that  he  is  "  not  ashamed  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ" :  so  fully  is  he  convinced  that  it  is 
stamped  with  divine  authority,  and  endued  with  divine 
energy,  that  he  is  willing  to  appear  as  its  advocate  any 
where — every  where ;  and  his  whole  subsequent  hfe  was 
in  accordance  with  this  declaration  :  wherever  he  moved, 
the  spirit  of  moral  heroism  glowed  in  his  actions,  and 
men  took  knowledge  of  him  that  a  martyr's  heart  was 
beating  in  his  bosom. 

The  latter  passage  occurs  in  connexion  with  that  part 
of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which  the  Apostle  in- 
stitutes a  contrast  between  their  condition  while  they 
were  sunk  in  the  degradation  of  Paganism,  and  their 
condition  after  having  experienced  the  regenerating  in- 
fluence of  the  gospel.  We  are  not,  however,  to  under- 
stand by  the  phrase — "  without  God  in  the  world" — that 
the  Ephesians  had  been  literally  without  any  God  ;  for 
they  had  worshipped  "  gods  many"  ;  but  only  that  they 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  true  God ;  and  that,  in  view 
of  the  practical  tendency  of  their  system,  they  might 
properly  be  denominated  Atheists. 

The  two  passages  then,  taken  in  connexion,  fairly 
present  to  our  consideration  the  contrast  hetiveeii  Athe- 
ism and  Christianity.  To  exhibit  this  contrast  is  the 
object  of  the  present  discourse. 

By  Christianity  you  will  understand  me  to  mean 
that  system  of  religion,  which  is  inculcated  in  the  volume 
that  we  customarily  denominate  the  sacred  scriptures. 
It  is  that  system  which,  while  it  includes  and  illustrates 
every  doctrine  of  natural  religion,  contains  another  set 
of  doctrines  of  vast  moment,  to  the  discovery  of  which 


WITH    ATHEISM.  3 

unassisted  reason  could  never  aspire.  It  recognises  man 
not  only  as  a  creature,  but  as  a  sinner.  It  recognises 
God  not  only  as  a  Creator,  a  Preserver,  a  Lawgiver,  but 
also  as  a  Redeemer.  It  discloses  a  new  and  sublime  econo- 
my— the  economy  of  redemption  ;  and  while  it  exhibits 
it  in  all  the  harmony  of  its  bearings,  and  all  the  variety 
of  its  influence,  it  points  upward  to  Heaven  as  the  thea- 
tre of  its  everlasting  consummation.  Other  systems  may 
be  baptized  into  the  name  of  Christianity  ;  but  that  only 
deserves  the  name,  which  contemplates  man  in  all  his 
guilt  and  ruin,  and  God  in  all  his  redeeming  mercy ; 
which  throws  the  sinner  helpless  into  the  arms  of  sove- 
reign grace,  and  sees  not  a  gleam  of  hope  for  him,  ex- 
cept through  the  atoning  blood  and  sanctifying  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

By  Atheisin  I  mean  that  system,  (if  system  it  can  be 
called,)  which  rejects  the  existence  of  an  intelligent  First 
Cause  of  all  things.  It  knows  nothing  of  moral  obliga- 
tion. It  blots  out  the  doctrine  of  man's  immortality.  It 
throws  the  universe  up  to  the  blind  direction  of  chance, 
or  chains  it  down  under  the  iron  dominion  oi  fate. — 
Some,  I  know,  have  doubted  whether  there  ever  was  an 
Atheist :  because  the  evidence  of  a  divine  existence  has 
beamed  upon  their  own  eye  in  such  an  overwhelming 
blaze,  it  has  seemed  to  them  impossible  that  any  human 
mind  should  resist  it.  But  there  have  been,  and  still  are, 
men,  who  have  professed  to  hold  this  scheme,  in  all  its 
absurdity  and  horrour ;  and  though  I  am  sure  they  have 
never  reached  their  conclusions  by  the  light  of  reason,  I 
see  nothing  improbable  in  the  supposition  that  they  may 
have  groped  their  way  thither  through  the  darkness  of 
depravity.  I  can  easily  believe  that  a  human  being  may 
reach  such  a  desperate  hardihood  in  wickedness,  that  he 
may  be  given  up  to  the  folly  not  only  of  saying  but  of 


4  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

believing,  that  "  there  is  no  God."  In  this  discourse  I 
shall  take  for  granted  that  the  Atheist  is  a  real,  and  not 
an  imaginary,  being ;  and  shall  exhibit  to  you  not  only 
the  tendency  of  atheistical  doctrines,  but  the  character 
which  has  been  actually  formed  under  their  influence. 

The  contrast  between  Atheism  and  Christianity  may 
be  advantageously  contemplated,  by  viewing  the  influ- 
ence of  each, 

I.  Upon  the  intellect: 

II.  Upon  the  conscience  : 

III.  Upon  the  heart  : 

IV.  Upon  the  life. 

I.  Upon  the  intellect. 

We  may  view  the  two  systems  as  furnishing  mo- 
tives for  intellectual  culture^  and  as  opening  a 
field  for  intellectual  exercise. 

In  coniemplating  the  motives  for  intellectual  cul- 
ture^  as  presented  by  the  two  systems,  we  may  consider, 

1.  The  vieics  which  each  system  takes  of  the  mind 
itself ; — especially  of  the  design,  and  the  duration,  of 
its  existence. 

As  it  is  one  of  the  first  principles  of  Atheism  that  the 
mind  exists  without  any  intelligent  cause,  it  legitimately 
results  from  the  same  principle,  that  it  exists  without  any 
design ;  for  design  necessarily  supposes  intelligence. — 
Nor  does  the  Atheist  at  all  disown  this  conclusion :  so 
far  from  it,  that  it  is  part  of  the  creed  in  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  glory,  that  there  is  no  end  to  be  answered  by 
human  existence,  apart  from  the  enjoyment  that  is  de- 
rived from  the  indulgence  of  the  passions.  The  Athe- 
ist, like  every  other  man,  finds  within  himself  an  active, 
intelligent  principle; — a  principle  by  which  he  thinks  as 
other  men  think ;  by  which  he  reasons  on  many  sub- 


WITH    ATHEISM.  5 

jects  as  other  men  reason ; — a  principle  which  sometimes 
breaks  forth  even  from  his  bosom  with  mighty  power, 
and  asserts  its  own  dignity^  notwithstanding  all  his  ef- 
forts to  degrade  it ; — but  he  recognises  no  purpose  for 
which  it  exists  that  gives  him  the  least  superiority  to  the 
brute.  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  views  the  mind 
not  only  as  an  intelligent  principle,  produced  by  an  in- 
telligent cause,  but  as  designed  to  accomplish  a  most  im- 
portant end  ; — nothing  less  than  to  glorify  its  Creator  by 
rendering  him  the  perpetual  homage  of  all  its  powers. 
And  she  goes  farther,  and  perceives  how  the  mind  is 
adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  created ; — how 
it  is  capable  of  analyzing  the  works  of  God,  of  holding 
communion  with  him  in  the  exercise  of  devotion,  of  ren- 
dering to  him  an  acceptable  obedience,  and  of  becoming 
in  various  ways  a  medium  for  the  manifestation  of  his 
glory.  In  short  the  Atheist  and  the  Christian  find  them- 
selves in  possession  of  the  same  noble  faculties  ;  but  the 
one  considers  them  as  pointing  to  the  service  of  his  Cre- 
ator, the  other  only  to  the  sensual  enjoyment  of  himself. 
Nor  is  the  difference  less  in  the  views  which  the  two 
systems  take  of  the  duration  of  the  mind's  existence. 
The  Atheist  laughs  at  the  idea  of  his  own  immoriality. 
He  regards  the  thinking  principle  within  him  as  having 
resulted  from  one  of  the  flickerings  of  chance,  and  as 
destined  to  pass  into  a  state  of  non-existence  when  the 
body  ceases  to  perform  its  functions.  He  sees  no  light 
from  beyond  the  tomb.  He  not  only  impugns  the  testi- 
mony of  Him  whose  name  is  "  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life,"  but  he  hears  not  the  vftice  of  Reason — he  heeds 
not  the  native  longings  of  his  own  spirit.  But  need  I 
say  that  the  Christian  receives  the  doctrine  of  immorta- 
lity with  unwavering  confidence  ?  There  are  witnesses 
to  this  truth  both  without  him  and  within  him,  whose 

1* 


b  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

testimony  is  not  only  decisive  but  overwhelming ;  and 
he  is  not  more  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  is  an  in- 
tellectual principle  belonging  to  his  nature,  than  that  that 
principle  will  exist  forever.  What  a  niiglity  difference 
between  believing  that  this  spark  of  intelligence  within 
me  will  be  extinguished  to-morrow,  to  be  re-kindled  no 
more,  and  that  it  will  burn  more  and  more  intensely 
through  an  interminable  succession  of  ages  ! 

Now  let  me  ask  you  wiiether  the  Atheist's  or  the 
Christian's  view  of  the  mind,  presents  the  stronger  mo- 
tives to  intellectual  culture.  I  find  within  me  a  think- 
ing principle  :  and  of  the  energy  of  its  operations  I  can- 
not doubt,  because  it  is  a  matter  of  experience:  but  if  I 
believe  that  it  is  merely  the  creature  of  accident ; — that 
accident  originated  it,  and  accident  sustains  it  through 
the  brief  period  of  its  existence,  and  that  it  accomplishes 
no  higher  end  than  the  principle  of  instinct  in  the  brute 
creation ; — w^iat  motive  can  I  have  to  labour  patiently 
and  dihgently  for  its  development?  For  even  admit- 
ting that  there  is  a  pleasure  in  this  employment  that  ex- 
ceeds any  to  be  derived  from  mere  sensual  gratification, 
yet  if  there  is  no  end  to  be  accomplished  by  it  apart  from 
this  temporary  enjoyment,  how  probable  is  it  that,  in  the 
conflict  between  the  animal  and  intellectual  nature,  the 
former  will  come  off  triumphant !  But  if  I  believe  that 
this  spirit  within  me  is  designed  for  an  infinitely  higher 
end  than  a  momentary  self-gratification  ; — if  I  consider 
it  as  created  for  the  ver}^  purpose  of  glorifying  the  Crea- 
tor by  being  continually  occupied  in  his  service,  what 
more  powerful  motive  can  I  have  than  is  here  presented 
to  cultivate  my  intellectual  powers  to  the  utmost  ?  And 
then  again,  suppose  it  is  part  of  my  creed  that  I  am  to 
perish  like  a  brute;— that  the  intellectual  spark  will  go 
out  as  soon  as  the  animal  machinery  is  stopped ; — where- 


WITH    ATHEISM.  7 

fore  should  I  give  myself  the  trouble  of  endeavouring  to 
kindle  into  a  bright  flame  that  which  is  so  soon  to  expire 
in  perpetual  darkness  ?  It  is  by  a  laborious  process  that 
the  intellect  is  cultivated  ; — and  why  should  I  incur  so 
much  labour,  if,  after  all,  the  intellect  itself  may  have  no 
existence  to-morrow  ?  But  if  I  believe  that  my  mind 
has  received  from  its  Maker  the  stamp  of  immortality ; 
that  it  is  susceptible  of  an  illimitable  improvement ;  that 
its  powers  are  destined  to  be  developed  more  and  more 
through  eternity ;  and  that  they  may  be  developed  in 
the  very  light  of  Jeho\  ah's  throne  ; — surely  I  have  good 
reason  for  cultivating  these  faculties  to  the  utmost.  I 
will  gain  as  much  intellectual  vigour  as  I  can ;  I  will 
make  as  many  great  and  lofty  acquisitions  as  I  can ;  for 
I  am  labouring  for  immortality.  If  I  were  an  Atheist,  I 
could  justify  myself  in  remaining  as  ignorant  as  a  brute ; 
but  professing,  as  I  do,  to  aspire  to  an  immortal  exist- 
ence, I  am  pressed  with  considerations  to  make  me  dili- 
gent in  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge.  I  profess 
to  hope  that,  after  I  am  dead,  I  shall  be  a  companion  of 
the  angels ;  and  I  Avould  fain  begin,  while  I  am  here,  to 
cultivate  my  intellect  with  reference  to  mingling  in  their 
society. 

2.  Consider  the  motives  to  intellectual  improvement 
that  grow  out  of  the  different  relattons  which  the 
tivo  systems  conte7nplate  Tnan  as  sustaining. 

As  the  Atheist  knows  no  God,  so  he  acknowledges  no 
relation  to  any.  Of  course  he  feels  no  sense  of  obliga- 
tion for  his  existence  ;  for  the  faculties  with  which  he  is 
endowed,  or  the  opportunities  he  enjoys  for  cultivating 
them :  he  regards  himself  as  indebted  only  to  chance ; 
and  to  this  it  is  impossible  that  he  shoidd  feel  any  thing 
like  obligation.  Hence  there  is  no  motive  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  intellect  from  his  relation  to  any  Higher  Pow- 


8  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

er :  he  considers  himself  as  in  the  strictest  sense  his  own 
property ;  and  acts  upon  the  principle  that  there  is  no 
God  in  Heaven  to  whom  he  is  accountable  for  any  thing. 
The  Christian,  on  the  other  hand,  not  only  recognises 
the  existence  of  Jehovah,  but  recognises  also  the  most 
endearing  relations  between  this  glorious  Being  and  him- 
self. He  looks  up  to  Him  as  the  Being  from  whom  he 
derived  his  existence ;  in  whom  are  all  his  springs ;  to 
whom  he  is  indebted,  not  only  for  his  intellectual  facul- 
ties, but  for  all  his  means  of  improving  them ;  and  more 
than  all,  he  contemplates  him,  through  Jesus  Christ,  as 
the  author  of  his  eternal  redemption.  And  out  of  these 
relations  grow  the  strongest  obligations  to  improve  his 
faculties,  so  far  as  God  gives  him  opportunity.  For  so 
exalted  a  gift  as  the  human  intellect,  and  for  such  vari- 
ous means  as  he  enjoys  for  its  cultivation,  he  feels  that 
he  is  deeply  accountable ;  and  the  more  so  in  view  of 
his  having  forfeited  his  very  existence  by  sin ;  and  with 
this  accountableness  deeply  impressed  upon  his  heart,  he 
will  of  course  endeavour  to  make  the  best  return  to  his 
Almighty  Benefactor  that  he  can ;  and  one  way  in  which 
he  will  do  this,  will  be  by  cultivating  his  faculties,  so  that 
they  may  be  more  vigorously  and  efficiently  employed  in 
his  Benefactor's  service.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that 
every  true  Christian  has  of  course  a  cultivated  intellect : 
I  only  mean  that  Christianity  supplies  tnotives  for  culti- 
vating it,  on  the  ground  of  obligation  to  a  Higher  Pow- 
er, of  which  Atheism  knows  nothing ;  and  that,  just  in 
proportion  as  this  influence  of  Christianity  is  felt,  will 
the  mind  of  man  be  enlightened  and  elevated. 

Scarcely  less  is  the  difference  in  the  views  which  the 
two  systems  take  of  the  relation  that  exists  between  man 
and  his  fellow  man.  The  Atheist  acknowledges  no 
common  bond  of  union  in  the  human  family.     He  re- 


WITH     ATHEISM.  \3 

gards  the  existence  of  each  individual  as  a  mere  matter 
of  accident ;  and  contemplates  each  as  standing  in  a 
sort  of  insulated  dreariness  ;  as  obligated  in  no  sense  to 
regard  the  interests  of  those  around  him,  especially  when 
they  may  seem  to  interfere  with  his  own.  The  Chris- 
tian, on  the  contrary,  is  taught  to  regard  every  man  as 
a  brother ; — all  being  children  of  a  common  parent ;  all 
possessing  a  common  nature  ;  all  destined  to  a  common 
immortality : — and  this  relation,  he  instantly  perceives, 
involves  an  obligation  1o  do  good  to  all  men  as  he  has 
opportunity,  and  especially  to  those  w4io  may  be  thrown 
more  immediately  wMthin  his  influence.  But  in  what 
way  can  he  quaUfy  himself  to  do  good  more  efficiently, 
than  by  the  diligent  culture  of  his  own  powers '/  For 
an  enlarged  mind  not  only  enables  him  directly  to  im- 
part to  others  his  own  useful  acquisitions,  but  also  to  ori- 
ginate and  sustain  great  systems  of  effort  in  the  cause 
of  intellectual  and  moral  improvement,  which  have  the 
world  for  their  field.  Will  not,  therefore,  the  relation 
which  he  sustains  to  his  fellow  men,  bear  powerfully  up- 
on him  as  a  motive  for  gaining  as  much  of  intellectual 
strength  as  possible,  by  keeping  his  faculties  in  vigorous 
operation  ?  But  no  such  motive  can  operate  upon  the 
Atheist ;  for  he  does  not  so  much  as  acknowledge  its  ex- 
istence. As  he  denies  all  n^ral  obligation, — as  he  does 
not  even  recognise  in  his  fellow  man  a  brother,  how  can 
he  be  impelled  to  intellectual  effort  from  a  conviction  that 
he  is  bound  to  promote  the  general  improvement  of  so- 
ciety ?  The  idea  is  indeed  absurd  ;  and  he  himself 
would  be  the  first  to  laugh  at  it. 

Such  then  are  the  motives  which  the  two  systems  pre- 
sent for  intellectual  culture  :  let  us  now  contemplate  the 
FIELD  which  each  opens  for  intellectual  exercise. 


10  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

And  here  I  am  willing  to  admit,  if  you  please,  that 
there  is  some  ground  which,  in  a  certain  sense,  may  be 
said  to  be  common  to  the  Atheist  and  the  Christian. 
The  kingdom  of  nature  spreads  itself  before  the  eye  of 
each  in  all  its  varied  magnificence.  The  sun,  moon  and 
stars,  look  down  in  their  glory  upon  both.  The  revolu- 
tions of  the  planets,  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  the  suc- 
cession of  day  and  night,  offer  themselves  as  subjects  of 
investigation  to  both.  The  animal  kingdom,  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  the  mineral  kingdom,  each  presents  its 
countless  forms  of  being,  and  its  diversified  hues  of  splen- 
dour, to  the  contemplation  of  both.  And  man's  own 
nature,  not  only  in  the  organization  of  his  body,  but  in 
the  constitution  of  his  mind,  is  as  fairly  open  to  the  eye 
of  the  one  as  of  the  other.  Nay  we  may  rise  yet  higher, 
and  keep  on  common  ground  still :  for  there  are  num- 
berless events  occurring  in  the  Tnoral  world, — events 
which  involve  the  happiness  not  only  of  individuals  but 
of  nations, — which  fall  under  the  observation  of  the 
Atheist  as  truly  as  of  the  Christian.  And  1  am  willing 
to  concede  that  the  Atheist  Tiiay  he  a  diligent  student 
both  of  the  works  which  he  sees  around  him,  and  of  the 
operations  which  he  feels  within  him.  He  may  choose 
the  field  of  his  investigation  in  the  heavens,  and  become 
eminent  as  an  astronomer  ;  or  he  may  occupy  himself 
in  numbering  and  analyzing  the  flowers  of  the  field,  or 
in  ascertaining  the  different  forms  of  mineral  existence, 
or  in  searching  into  the  constitution  of  the  earth  w^hich 
he  inhabits,  and  thus  become  distinguished  in  physical 
science ;  nay  he  may  look  inward,  in  the  exercise  of  deep 
and  laborious  thought,  upon  his  own  mind,  and  make 
many  accurate  observations,  and  even  gain  the  charac- 
ter of  an  intellectual  philosopher ;  and  finally,  he  may 
notice  the  influence  of  different  events  and  of  different 


WITH    ATHEISM.  11 

courses  of  conduct,  not  only  upon  individual  but  nation- 
al happiness ;  and  may  ascertain  facts  in  connexion  with 
this  subject,  which  shall  be  of  great  importance :  in 
short,  the  whole  field  of  science  and  philosophy  is  open 
to  him  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  he  may  labour  dihgently, 
and,  to  a  certain  extent,  successfully,  in  any  part  of  it. 
He  has  not  indeed,  as  I  have  attempted  to  show  you, 
the  same  motives  to  labour  in  it  which  the  Christian  has ; 
nevertheless,  a  simple  desire  of  knowledge,  or  it  may  be, 
a  mere  intellectual  vanity,  has  often  prevailed  to  render 
the  Atheist  a  diligent  student,  and  to  draw  from  him 
valuable  contributions,  especially  to  the  stock  of  physical 
science. 

But  notwithstanding  there  is  so  wide  a  field  for  intel- 
lectual exercise  open  in  common  to  the  Atheist  and  the 
Christian,  yet  even  this  common  ground  is  by  no  means 
-the  same  to  both.  What  though  the  Atheist  may  lift  up 
his  eyes  to  the  Heavens,  and  survey  with  the  telescope 
that  luminous  field  of  grandeur  that  stretches  above  him; 
what  though  he  may  dig  into  the  depths  of  the  earth, 
and  analyze  the  various  materials  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed ; — what  though  he  may  turn  his  eye  upon  the 
wonderful  mechanism  of  his  body,  or  the  wonderful  me- 
chanism of  his  mind,  and  observe  how  admirably  each 
member  of  the  one,  and  each  faculty  of  the  other,  per- 
forms its  appropriate  office  ;  yet  how  much  of  the  inte- 
rest pertaining  to  these  sublime  discoveries  is  lost,  by 
shutting  out  the  great  idea  of  an  intelligent  cause  ;  by 
regarding  the  whole  system  of  things  as  an  infinitude  of 
atoms  dancing  in  wild  and  fortuitous  confusion,  or  borne 
along  by  a  blind  and  fatal  necessity.  Admit,  for  a  mo- 
ment, if  you  can  endure  the  revolting-  supposition,  that 
this  stupendous  fabric  of  nature  exists  by  accident ;  that 
accident  has  kindled  up  that  sun  in  the  heavens ;  that 


12  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

accident  has  caused  the  mountains  to  rise  and  the  oceans 
to  roll,  the  winds  to  blow  and  the  seasons  to  change; 
that  accident  clothes  the  earth  with  verdure  and  binds 
it  up  in  frost ;  that  accident  creates  and  sustains,  withers 
and  annihilates  ; — in  a  word,  that  accident  is  the  god 
that  sits  on  the  throne  of  the  universe ; — and  tell  me 
whether  the  visible  creation  opens  upon  )^ou  any  longer 
as  a  field  of  glory ; — whether  the  beauties  which  it  pre- 
sents do  not  fade  upon  your  eye  under  the  reflection  that 
they  exist  without  any  intelligent  cause  ; — whether,  as 
you  traverse  the  universe  both  of  matter  and  of  mind, 
you  are  not  ready  to  halt  in  your  investigations,  on  the 
ground  that  nothing  hke  design  exists,  even  where  per- 
fect design  is  apparent ; — that  there  is  no  certainty  in  any 
thing  but  in  the  doctrine  that  every  thing  is  uncertain  7 
But  how  the  scene  changes,  when  you  once  admit  the 
idea,  that  the  universe  has  been  created,  and  is  preserved, 
and  all  its  interests  directed,  by  a  Being  of  infinite  wis- 
dom and  almighty  power !  How  much  more  instruc- 
tive does  the  volume  of  nature  become,  when  we  can  dis- 
cover on  every  page  of  it  the  traces  of  a  divine  hand  ! 
The  heavens  put  on  a  more  glorious  aspect,  the  trees 
wear  a  brighter  foliage,  the  flowers  bloom  with  a  fresher 
fragrance ;  the  animal  creation  seems  more  joyous,  the 
mineral  creation  seems  more  wonderful,  and  man's  own 
mind  gathers  an  incojnparably  higher  interest,  the  mo- 
ment these  various  classes  of  objects  are  looked  at  in  con- 
nexion with  the  existence  of  a  great  First  Cause.  Let 
this  idea  get  possession  of  the  mind,  and  it  reduces  chaos 
to  order ;  it  brings  liglit  out  of  darkness :  the  imagina- 
tion ventures  to  a  loftier  height ;  the  judgment  acts  with 
fresh  confidence  and  certainty;  and  every  other  faculty 
of  the  soul  finds  that  a  new  atmosphere  has  been  crea- 
ted favourable  to  its  vigorous  and  healthful  exercise.     It 


WITH    ATHEISM.  13 

is  as  if  the  sun  were  suddenly  to  scatter  the  thick  shades 
of  midnight :  it  is  as  if  a  film  were  to  be  taken  from  the 
mental  eye,  and  a  thousand  new  beauties  and  glories  to 
burst  upon  it  in  a  moment. 

I  have  said  that  there  is  some  common  ground  on 
which  the  mind  of  the  Christian  and  the  mind  of  the 
Atheist  may  expatiate ;  though  even  here,  the  one  has 
incomparably  greater  advantages  than  the  other.  But 
there  are  vast  regions  of  thought,  and  those  too  the  sub- 
limest  and  loveliest  over  which  the  mind  can  wander, 
from  which  the  Atheist  is  a  voluntary  exile,  but  in  which 
the  Christian  finds  his  peculiar  element.  First  of  all, 
there  is  that  momentous  truth  which  is  the  basis  of  the 
whole  system  of  things, — the  existence  of  a  God :  there 
is  his  character,  combining  every  possible  perfection, — 
infinite  power,  wisdom,  justice,  benevolence,  holiness  and 
truth :  there  is  his  government,  extending  minutely  to 
all  beings  and  all  events :  there  is  the  immortality  of 
man,  and  the  relations  he  sustains  to  this  world  and  the 
next :  there  is  the  redemption  of  the  Son  of  God  in  its 
origin,  progress  and  consummation  :  there  is  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  the  conflagration  of  the  world,  the  re- 
tributions of  the  judgment,  the  new  Heavens  and  the 
new  earth,  and  a  complete  illustration  of  Jehovah's  cha- 
racter in  the  eternal  doom  of  the  righteous  and  the  re- 
probate. What  subjects  in  the  universe,  I  ask,  do  not 
dwindle  into  insignificance  when  compared  with  these? 
What  other  field  is  there  in  which  the  mind  can  so  ad- 
vantageously and  so  delightfully  bring  into  exercise  its 
powers  ?  Where  else  are  there  such  lofty  heights  for 
the  imagination  to  chmb ; — where  else  such  mighty 
depths  for  the  intellect  to  penetrate  : — where  so  much  to 
quicken  and  elevate  the  whole  intellectual  man,  as  is 
presented  to  us  in  these  exalted  subjects  ?     It  is  in  the 

2 


14  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

contemplation  of  these  that  the  Christian  advances  to- 
wards that  intellectual  perfection  which  is  to  make  part 
of  the  glory  of  his  character  in  the  next  world.  But  if 
the  Atheist  casts  an  eye  towards  these  sublime  fields  of 
thought,  they  seem  to  him  overshadowed  with  sepulchral 
darkness.  He  insists  that  there  is  no  beauty,  or  harmo- 
ny, or  loveliness  here ;  that  this  is  the  region  of  wild  and 
fruitless  conjecture,  and  of  deep  and  revolting  absurdity. 
He  knows  no  genial  quickening  influence  from  hence  to 
invigorate  his  faculties,  or  urge  him  forward  in  the  ca- 
reer of  mental  improvement.  No,  the  Atheist  never  en- 
ters here — he  cannot  without  ceasing  to  be  an  Atheist. 
But  here  the  Christian  is  most  at  home :  here  he  breathes 
and  moves  with  freedom,  and  it  is  his  privilege  to  reflect 
that  the  field  which  is  open  to  him  now  will  continue 
open,  and  will  widen  and  brighten  upon  his  vision  through 
everlasting  ages. 

Is  there  not  then,  my  friends,  a  mighty  contrast  be- 
tween the  influence  of  Christianity  and  the  influence  of 
Atheism  on  the  intellect  of  man  ?  Are  we  not  faiiiy 
conducted  to  this  conclusion,  both  by  a  view  of  the  mo- 
tives which  the  two  systems  present  to  intellectual  cul- 
ture, and  the  fields  which  they  respectively  open  for  in- 
tellectual exercise  ?  But  perhaps  it  may  occur  to  some 
of  you  that  there  is  an  objection  which  requires  to  be 
answered  before  this  conclusion  can  be  fully  admitted ; — 
viz,  that  there  have  been  found  among  the  advocates  of 
Atheism  men  of  high  intellectual  culture,  whose  acqui- 
sitions have  scarcely  had  a  parallel  in  the  age  in  which 
they  have  lived.  I  reply  to  this  objection,  first,  that  the 
cases  referred  to  are  exceptions  from  the  general  fact ; 
and  that  while  there  has  been  here  and  there  an  intel- 
lectual Atheist,  the  mass  have  been  sunk  in  brutish  ig- 
norance and  stupidity.     And  these  exceptions  only  prove 


WITH    ATHEISM.  15 

that  there  is  a  native  energy  in  the  mind,  which  even 
Atheism  has  not,  in  all  cases,  the  power  to  repress :  it 
shows  that  the  intelligent  principle  even  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Atheist,  will,  in  some  degree,  have  its  own  way ; 
that  its  fires  will  burn  notwithstanding  the  cold  and  de- 
solate region  which  it  inhabits ;  that  its  powers  will  ex- 
pand amidst  influences  which  tend  only  to  a  dwarfish 
inferiority.  In  short,  every  cultivated  Atheist  is  a  glaiing 
contradiction  of  his  own  system ; — a  standing  proof  that 
the  mind  was  not  made  to  be  subjected  to  its  withering 
influence. 

II.  If  such  is  the  contrast  between  Atheism  and  Chris- 
tianity in  their  influence  upon  the  intellect,  let  us  inquire, 
secondly,  whether  a  similar  contrast  does  not  exist  in 
their  influence  upon  the  conscience. 
I  observe  then, 

1.  First,  that  Atheism  denies  the  existence  of  what 
we  caU  conscience,  while  Christianity  asserts  it. 

The  Atheist  cannot  indeed  deny  that  most  men  have, 
at  times,  fearful  apprehensions  in  respect  to  the  future; — 
indeed  he  cannot  deny  that  there  is  in  the  human  bosom 
precisely  that  which  we  call  a  sense  of  guilt ;  but  then 
he  will  have  it  that  it  is  nothing  better  than  childish 
cow^ardice;  a  mere  bugbear  which  accident  has,  some 
how  or  other,  introduced  into  the  soul,  to  haunt  it  with 
needless  and  foolish  apprehensions.  And  in  denying 
the  existence  of  conscience,  he  surely  is  not  inconsistent 
with  himself;  for  the  existence  of  conscience  supposes 
the  existence  of  a  God ;  and  that  he  denies :  the  exist- 
ence of  conscience  takes  for  granted  that  there  is  some 
universal  rule  of  action ;  and  he  asserts  that  there  is 
none :  the  existence  of  conscience  implies  that  there  is  a 
future  state  of  retribution  ;  and  that  with  him  passes  for 
nothing  but  a  dream.     I  say  then,  there  is  no  place  in 


16  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

the  system  of  Atheism  for  the  doctrine  of  conscience ; 
and  the  Atheist  could  not  admit  it  without  abandoning 
every  article  in  his  creed. 

The  Cliristian,  on  the  other  hand,  not  only  recognises 
the  existence  of  conscience,  but  acknowledges  the  autho- 
rity of  its  dictates.  In  its  operations  he  contemplates, 
not  the  wild  dreams  of  a  terrified  fancy,  but  the  sober 
decisions  of  enlightened  reason.  He  reverences  it  both 
as  a  counsellor  and  a  judge.  He  regards  it  as  holding 
the  highest  office  in  the  soul ; — an  office  to  which  it  has 
been  appointed  by  the  great  Law-giver  and  Judge  of  all. 
In  the  Bible  he  contemplates  the  rule  by  which  its  deci- 
sions are  to  be  formed  :  in  a  future  state  of  existence  he 
contemplates  the  scene  of  exact  retribution  to  which  it 
infallibly  points.  Its  slightest  intimations,  though  they 
may  come  only  in  a  whisper,  he  considers  too  important 
to  be  disregarded ;  and  there  is  not  a  day  or  an  hour  but 
he  listens  to  hear  what  this  internal  monitor  may  say  to 
Iiim.  While  the  Atheist  has  no  theory  to  account  for 
the  facts  which  he  is  obliged  to  admit  on  this  subject  but 
the  theory  of  chance,  the  Christian  has  a  theory  w^iich 
not  only  includes  in  it  the  idea  of  design,  but  which  re- 
cognises God's  supreme  authority  as  a  Law-giver  and 
man's  accountableness  as  a  subject  of  his  government. 

I  have  said  that  the  Atheist  denies  the  existence  of 
conscience  ; — but  he  has  a  conscience  after  all;  for  he  is 
constituted  precisely  as  other  men  are ;  and  the  elements 
of  his  constitution  remain  the  same  in  spite  of  the  horrors 
of  his  creed.  And  sometimes  the  secret  comes  out,  when 
he  would  be  more  than  wiUing  to  conceal  it,  that  even 
the  poison  of  Atheism  is  not  powerful  enough  to  neutral- 
ize the  energies  of  this  inward  principle ;  else  how  will 
you  account  for  it  that  a  distinguished  Atheist,  while  tra- 
velhng  upon  one  of  our  own  lakes,  fell  upon  his  knees 


WITH    ATHEISM.  17 

amidst  the  terrors  of  a  storm,  and  prayed  for  deliverance ; 
or  that  another  stiii  more  distinguished,  should,  upon  his 
dying  bed,  have  sent  for  a  priest,  and  declared  that  he 
died  in  the  bosom  of  the  church  ?  I  say  then,  much  as 
the  Atheist  may  ridicule  the  idea  of  conscience,  he  has 
no  power  to  annihilate  it ;  and  though,  in  some  instances, 
there  may  seem  to  be  no  evidences  of  its  existence,  yet 
even  there  it  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth.  But  though  Athe- 
ism cannot  extinguish  this  principle,  it  can  and  does  ex- 
ert a  powerful  influence  upon  it ;  and  hence  I  observe, 

2.  That  Atheism  darkens  the  conscience,  while  Chris- 
tianity enlightens  it. 

Any  system  of  errour  whatever,  and  especially  any 
which  deeply  involves  man's  relations  to  his  Creator, 
must  have  a  tendency  to  pervert  the  moral  discernment : 
but  if  this  is  true  even  of  those  systems  which  still  re- 
cognise the  existence  of  a  God,  what  must  not  be  true 
of  Atheism,  which  begins  by  blotting  out  the  doctrine  of 
the  divine  existence  ?  Is  not  the  soul  that  believes  there 
is  no  God,  no  rule  of  duty,  no  future  retribution,  in  a 
moral  midnight ;  and  if  conscience  really  forms  any  en- 
Ughtened  decisions  where  such  a  creed  is  professedly  held, 
does  it  not  prove  that  it  has  within  itself  some  beams 
of  natural  hght  which  even  the  blackness  of  Atheism 
cannot  quench ; — that  it  practically,  however  feebly, 
holds  on  upon  some  great  truths,  while  the  language  of 
the  lips  would  seem  to  imply  that  it  had  cut  loose  from 
all  of  them  ?  While  I  maintain  that  every  Atheist  has 
a  conscience  which  will  sooner  or  later  be  filled  with  a 
terrifying  and  torturing  light,  I  also  maintain  that  his 
creed  is  the  most  perfect  of  all  devices  to  exclude  every 
ray  of  light,  until  it  is  let  in  upon  his  naked  spirit  in  the 
next  world.  If  all  errour  is  darkness,  surely  Atheism  is 
a  darkness  that  can  be  felt ;  and  if  it  be  not  absolutely 

2* 


18  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

total,  it  is  only  because  nature  has  her  trembling,  though 
concealed,  misgivings. 

Christianity  sheds  a  flood  of  light  into  the  conscience. 
Besides  exhibiting  a  general  rule  of  duty  in  the  law  of 
God,  she  carries  out  that  rule  into  all  the  (Jetails  of  dail}' 
practice ;  and  her  light  is  so  clear  and  strong,  that  it  is 
easy  to  discriminate  between  the  right  and  wrong  of  every 
subject  that  is  viewed  by  it.  Moreover  she  not  only  in- 
culcates, but  furnishes  every  needed  facility  for  attaining, 
inward  purity ;  and  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
a  holy  heart  is  itself  a  fountain  of  light  to  the  conscience. 
And  she  leads  man  continually  to  the  business  of  sell" 
communion,  hereby  disclosing  to  him  his  corruptions  and 
errours,  and  showing  him  how  far  he  has  deviated  from 
the  standard  of  perfect  purity.  And  more  than  all,  she 
brings  him  directly  into  communion  with  the  infinite 
God — the  God  of  perfect  truth,  and  wisdom,  and  hoH- 
ness;  and  while  he  reverently  waits  "before  Jehovah's 
awful  throne,"  supphcating  for  a  knowledge  of  his  most 
secret  sins,  his  conscience  is  thrown  into  the  full  day  light 
of  the  divine  presence,  and  he  is  ready  to  exclaim  with 
David,  "  Thy  commandment  is  exceeding  broad"  ! 

3.  Atheism  paralyzes  the  conscience;  Christianity 
quicketis  it.  Light  is  the  proper  element  for  activity ; 
darkness  for  repose  and  inaction.  In  the  light  of  this 
present  world  there  is  life  and  motion ;  in  the  darkness 
of  the  grave  man  lives  not,  moves  not,  but  corruption 
and  the  worm  have  complete  dominion  over  him.  While 
the  day  lasts,  man  is  busy  with  the  concerns  of  the 
world ;  but  when  the  night  cometh,  he  ceases  to  labour 
and  loses  himself  in  sleep.  "Vegetation,  when  confined 
in  darkness,  soon  puts  on  a  sickly  and  withered  appear- 
ance ;  but  when  brought  into  the  light,  it  revives,  and 
looks  as  healthful  and  blooming  as  ever.     And  so  it  is 


WITH    ATHEISM.  19 

with  man's  conscience, — give  it  light,  and  it  will  he  all 
life  and  activity  ;  it  will  do  its  office  with  amazing 
promptness,  and  sometimes  with  appalling  energy  ;  but 
let  it  be  thrown  into  the  darkness  of  errour,  and  it  Avill  be 
dormant ;  and  the  deeper  the  darkness,  the  more  its  in- 
sensibility will  resemble  the  torpor  of  death. 

I  have  already  shown  you  that  Atheism  is  the  dark- 
ness of  midnight ;  that  Christianity  is  the  brightness  of 
noon  day  :  it  follows  then,  by  necessity,  that,  just  in  pro- 
portion as  the  one  or  the  other  is  practically  received,  the 
conscience  must  be  paralyzed  or  quickened.  And  I  ap- 
peal to  facts  for  proof  that  it  is  so.  Where  did  you  ever 
see  a  professed  Atheist  who  gave  you  any  evidence,  un- 
less in  affliction  or  in  death,  that  his  conscience  had  any 
dominion  over  him  ?  Where  did  you  ever  see  an  hum- 
ble follower  of  Jesus,  or  one  who  had  a  deep  practical 
impression  of  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  whose  conscience 
was  not  quick  to  discern,  and  sensitive  to  feel,  the  diffe- 
rence between  a  right  and  a  wrong  action  7  The  Athe- 
ist can  plunge  into  the  very  depths  of  crime,  and  con- 
tract guilt  at  which  a  fiend  might  shudder ;  and  yet  the 
worm  that  never  dies  may  not  stir  in  his  bosom  :  but  the 
Christian  cannot  seriously  contemplate  the  least  violation 
of  God's  law  of  which  he  has  been  guilty,  but  his  ever 
wakeful  conscience  takes  cognizance  of  the  sin,  and  pro- 
duces a  tumult  in  his  breast  which  nothing  but  an  appli- 
cation to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  can  assuage. 

III.  Let  me  now,  thirdly,  direct  your  attention  to  the 
opposite  influences  which  the  two  systems  exert  upon 
the  HEART.  I  shall  consider  them  in  their  tendency  to 
mould  its  affections^  and  satisfy  its  desires. 

That  we  may  rightly  estimate  their  influence  in 
mouldijig  the  affectio?is,  it  is  necessary  that  we  bear  in 
mind  that  the  moral  character  of  an  individual,  by  which 


20  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

1  mean  the  real  state  of  bis  heart,  is  determined,  in  no 
small  degree,  by  bis  intellectual  views  ;  and  that,  as  truth 
and  errour  are  directly  opposite  in  their  nature,  so  they  ex- 
ert a  directly  opposite  influence  upon  the  heart.  I  know 
that  systems  of  gross  errour  have  sometimes  been  pro- 
fessed where  there  has  been  the  decency  of  a  moral  life ; 
nevertheless,  this  does  not  prove  that  even  external  mo- 
rality is  the  fruit  of  errour,  or  that  errour  is  not  naturally 
and  essentially  hostile  to  morality :  it  only  proves  that 
there  may  be  countervaihng  influences  arising  from  con- 
stitutional temperament,  or  education,  or  some  other 
cause,  strong  enough  to  prevent  the  full  and  legitimate 
operation  of  errour ;  or,  as  the  case  may  be,  that  the  errour 
which  is  professed  sits  so  loosely  upon  the  mind,  and  is 
held  with  so  little  intelligence  and  reflection,  that  it  exer- 
cises but  a  partial  dominion  over  the  heart.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  needs  be  told  that  truth,  even  truth  of 
the  noblest  kind,  is  often  professedly  received,  where 
none  of  its  legitimate  fruits  ever  appear ;  either  because 
it  is  held  as  a  mere  speculation,  or  because  its  influence 
is  neutralized  by  the  power  of  corruption?  But  not- 
withstanding these  accidental,  counteracting  influences 
both  in  respect  to  truth  and  errour,  it  still  remains  true 
that  each  has  its  appropriate  influence  ;  that  truth  is  the 
seed  of  virtue,  that  errour  is  the  germ  of  corruption  and 
crime. 

With  this  remark  in  view  as  the  basis  of  what  I  am 
to  say  under  this  article,  I  observe, 

1.  That  Atheism  contracts  the  aflections,  while 
Christianity  expands  them. 

There  is  not  an  article  in  the  Atheist's  creed  but  is  di- 
rectly calculated  to  foster  a  spirit  of  black  misanthropy. 
How  must  he  regard  his  fellow  man  in  the  light  of  the 
doctrine  that  there  is  no  God  in  Heaven  whom  they  can 


WITH    ATHEISM.  .  21 

recognise  as  a  common  Father  ?  Surely  not  as  a  bro- 
ther; for  this  relationship  imphes  the  existence  of  an  al- 
mighty parent  to  wliom  they  are  both  indebted  for  their 
own  existence.  How  can  he  regard  his  fellow  man  in 
view  of  the  doctrine  that  death  is  an  eternal  sleep? — 
Why  surely  as  too  unimportant  a  being  to  call  forth 
his  regards ;  for  wherefore  should  I  let  my  affections  go 
out  and  fasten  upon  the  insect  of  a  day  ?  How  can  he 
regard  his  fellow  man  in  consideration  of  the  doctrine 
that  the  members  of  the  human  family  sustain  no  rela- 
tionship to  each  other,  but  that  which  is  sustained  by 
atoms  meeting  in  fortuitous  concourse?  Certainly  he 
cannot  recognise  in  such  a  being  any  claim  upon  his 
affections ;  for  wherefore  should  his  heart  beat  to  mere 
particles  of  matter  which  accident  has  thrown  together 
in  one  way  rather  than  in  another  ?  He  has  his  own 
personal  wants;  and  he  feels  them;  and  there  is  no- 
thing in  his  system  which  teaches  him  to  look  beyond 
them.  Nay,  if  a  spirit  of  generosity  were  one  of  the 
original  elements  of  his  nature,  it  is  scarcely  possible  that 
it  should  long  withstand  the  cold  and  withering  influence 
of  his  creed  ;  and  if  sometimes  his  nature  so  far  gets  the 
better  of  his  principles  that  he  weeps  for  another's  wo,  it 
were  such  a  contradiction  to  his  system  that  he  may 
consistently  enough  sit  down  and  ridicule  the  operation 
of  chance  in  his  own  weakness. 

Christianity,  need  I  say,  has  no  communion  with  a 
selfish  spirit.  She  came  down  from  the  skies  as  an  an- 
gel of  benevolence.  She  arrayed  herself  in  her  native 
Heavens  with  the  robe  of  benevolence.  She  looked 
abroad  upon  the  world  with  the  smile  of  benevolence. 
She  has  performed  the  most  benevolent  work  to  which 
the  heart  of  man  or  angel  ever  beat.  The  spirit  which 
she  breathes,  the  precepts  which  she  inculcates,  the  ex- 


22  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

ample  which  she  exhibits,  all  justify  the  proclamation 
which  she  made,  on  her  descent  to  earth,  of  "  good  will 
to  men."'  And  into  whatsoever  heart  she  enters,  she 
thaws  the  icy  bands  of  selfishness,  and  diffuses  the  warm 
glow  of  kindly  affection.  She  teaches  man  to  recog- 
nise in  his  fellow  man  every  where,  and  in  every  variety 
of  circumstances,  a  brother ;  and  to  carry  out  his  regards 
in  the  exercise  of  forgiveness  towards  enemies,  in  the 
exercise  of  compassion  towards  the  wretched,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  good  will  towards  all  men. 

2.  Atheism  brutalizes  the  affections;  Christianity 
refines  them. 

The  same  influence  under  which  the  Atheist  becomes 
selfish,  renders  him  brutal.  The  same  influence  which 
freezes  up  the  fountains  of  generous  feehng  towards  his 
fellow  man,  makes  him  cruel,  and  vindictive,  and  ma- 
lignant. It  is  a  light  thing,  upon  his  principles,  to  sport 
with  human  life ;  for  if  man  is  at  best  only  the  creature 
of  a  day,  made  for  no  purpose  and  destined  to  no  retri- 
bution, what  matters  it  though  his  life  should  be  a  httle 
shortened  by  the  hand  of  his  fellow  man;  and  if  the 
Atheist  finds  it  a  matter  of  conv^enience  to  shed  his 
blood,  why  should  not  his  convenience  prevail  over  any 
childish  weakness  of  his  nature  which  may  lead  him  to 
revolt  at  it?  Is  it  possible  that  a  man  should  hold  a 
doctrine  which  fully  justifies  the  midnight  assassin  in 
his  bloody  work, — a  doctrine  which  puts  my  life,  and 
your  life,  and  the  hfe  of  every  man,  at  the  mercy  of  any 
wretch  who  may  choose  to  take  it, — a  doctrine  which, 
if  fully  reduced  to  practice,  would  convert  the  world  into 
one  immense  field  of  carnage,  and  rapine,  and  wo, — I 
ask,  is  it  possible  that  a  man  should  cordially  hold  such 
a  doctrine,  and  his  feelings  not  become  thoroughly  bru- 
talized 7     The  history  of  Atheism  shows  that  it  is  not 


WITH    ATHEISM.  23 

possible ; — shows  that  such  an  influence  hardens  the 
heart  into  adamant. 

How  different,  how  opposite,  is  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity! Tile  language  of  gentleness  is  always  upon 
her  lips ;  the  spirit  of  benignity  is  always  in  her  heart ; 
the  sound  of  her  footsteps  is  the  harbinger  of  heaven- 
born  charity.  The  rough  points  in  the  character  of  man 
she  contrives  to  wear  off;  the  amiable  sensibilities  of  our 
nature  she  carefully  cherishes  ;  she  drives  cruelty  out  of 
the  heart  and  brings  in  merc}^  in  its  place ;  and  though 
she  moves  noiseless  as  the  falling  dew,  yet  as  the  light- 
ning scathes  the  most  rugged  oak,  so  she  subdues  and 
softens  the  most  savage  spirit.  And  why  should  it  not 
be  so,  when  you  consider  the  love,  and  grace,  and  power, 
which  enter  into  her  very  constitution  ?  Why  should  it 
not  be  so,  when  He  whose  name  she  bears,  and  by  whose 
death  she  lives,  was  unutterably  tender  amidst  all  his 
greatness ;  and  not  only  bore  our  sorrows  while  He  was 
upon  earth,  but  is  still  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our 
infirmities,  now  that  He  has  gone  back  to  Heaven  ? 

3.  Atheism  debases  the  affections ;  Christianity  ex- 
alts them. 

Atheism,  as  we  have  already  seen,  allows  but  a  com- 
paratively narrow  field  for  the  operation  of  the  intellect ; 
and  she  offers  but  few  inducements  to  intellectual  effort. 
She  leaves  her  votaries  with  little  else  to  do  than  obey 
the  blind  impulses  of  passion ;  and  she  lends  a  direct 
and  powerful  influence  to  sensualize  the  whole  man. — 
The  man  who  believes  that  there  is  no  God  to  whom 
he  is  accountable,  no  future  state  in  which  he  is  to  exist, 
no  relationship  subsisting  between  himself  and  any 
other  being  that  involves  obligation^  has  the  strongest 
motives  that  can  be  imagined  to  yield  himself  up  to  the 
most  unbridled  voluptuousness.      Having  nothing  to 


24  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

hope  on  the  one  hand,  and  professedly  fearing  nothing 
on  the  other, — at  any  rate  beheving  that  the  condition 
of  the  future  is  to  be  in  no  way  influenced  by  the  doings 
of  the  present,  what  is  there  to  keep  him  from  coming 
under  the  complete  dominion  of  his  animat  nature,  and 
yielding  to  the  promptings  of  every  passion  that  would 
bring  him  down  to  a  level  with  the  brutes? 

But  it  is  not  more  certain  that  Atheism  debases  the  af- 
fections, than  that  Christianity  purifies  and  exalts  them. 
She  does  this  by  opening  to  the  intellect  a  field  of  the 
sublimest  truth ;  by  prescribing  a  course  of  conduct  which 
is  nothing  less  than  perfect  obedience  to  a  perfectly  holy 
law ;  by  bringing  the  soul  into  direct  communion  with 
the  fountain  of  all  perfection  ;  by  supplying  an  influence 
from  on  high  which  turns  darkness  into  light,  weakness 
into  strength,  poUution  into  holiness,  death  into  life.-- 
Yes,  the  Christian's  spirit  has,  must  have,  an  etherial 
tendency ;  it  is  trained  to  subhme  excursions ;  it  is  al- 
ready at  home  in  the  atmosphere  that  surrounds  the 
throne  of  God ;  and  what  is  more,  God's  own  Spirit 
inhabits  it,  and  is  pledged  to  prepare  it  for  an  eternal  re- 
sidence in  the  Heavens.  You  cannot  chain  the  Chris- 
tian's affections  to  earth  ;  for  they  have  received  a  celes- 
tial impulse  that  keeps  them  soaring  away  to  the  skies. 

Such  is  the  influence  of  the  two  systems  in  moulding 
the  affections  of  the  heart:  let  us  now  consider  their  in- 
fluence in  satisfying  its  desires. 

And  here,  if  it  would  not  lead  me  into  too  wide  a 
range,  I  might  call  your  attention  distinctly  to  each  of 
the  several  desires  which  make  part  of  our  original  con- 
stitution, and  show  you  how  Atheism  satisfies  none  of 
them — how  Christianity  satisfies  them  all.  I  might 
show  you  how  Atheism  mocks  the  desire  of  existence^ 
by  opening  before  the  mind  the  hideous  gulf  of  annihi- 


WITH    ATHEISM.  25 

lation ;  how  Christianity  meets  it,  by  establishing  not 
only  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  the  resurrection  of 
the  body.  I  might  show  you  how  Atheism  mocks  the 
desire  of  action^  by  supplying  no  adequate  motive  to  ac- 
tion, and  hmiting  the  exercise  of  our  faculties  to  the  brief 
period  of  the  present  life ;  how  Christianity  meets  it,  by 
at  once  giving  our  faculties  a  right  direction,  and  open- 
ing a  noble  field  for  their  exercise.  I  might  show  you 
how  Atheism  mocks  the  desire  of  knowledge^  by  mise- 
rably contracting  the  field  of  thought,  and  breathing 
over  every  subject  an  air  of  skepticism ;  how  Christian- 
ity meets  it,  not  only  by  leading  the  intellect,  as  with 
the  hand  of  an  angel,  from  one  part  of  God's  visible 
works  to  another,  but  by  throwing  open  the  gates  of 
other  worlds,  that  the  beams  of  immortal  truth  may 
pour  down  in  all  their  brightness  upon  the  mental  eye. 
I  might  show  you  how  Atheism  mocks  the  desire  of  the 
approbation  and  esteem  of  other  beings^  by  origina- 
ting a  character  which  every  virtuous  being  must  hate, 
and  which  every  intelligent  being  must  condemn  ;  how 
Christianity  meets  it,  by  forming  in  man  a  spirit  of  be- 
nevolence, and  disposing  him  to  do  good  to  all  as  he  has 
opportunity.  I  might  show  you  how  Atheism  mocks 
the  desire  of  society^  by  inspiring  a  distrustfiil  and  unso- 
cial spirit,  and  making  man  the  enemy  of  man ;  how 
Christianity  meets  it,  by  inculcating  a  spirit  of  universal 
good  will,  and  associating  men  together  for  purposes  of 
mutual  enjoyment  and  improvement.  But  instead  of 
entering  so  broad  a  field,  I  shall  consider  the  several  de 
sires  of  the  soul  as  concentrated  in  the  general  desire  of 
happiness  ;  and  shall  dismiss  this  branch  of  the  subject 
with  two  or  three  remarks  illustrative  of  the  contrast  be 
tween  the  two  systems  in  their  bearing  upon  this  leading 
and  comprehensive  desire. 

3 


26  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

1.  Atheism  produces  doubt  :  Christianity  produces 
certainty. 

What  can  the  Atheist  know  in  respect  to  the  future  ? 
For  he  not  only  laughs  at  the  testimony  of  God's  word 
as  an  absurd  and  miserable  fabrication,  but  blots  out  the 
doctrine  of  Providence,  and  sees  no  evidence  of  intelli- 
gence or  design  in  any  thing  that  exists,  or  any  thing 
that  occurs.  He  cuts  himself  off  therefore  from  every 
means  of  anticipating  the  future,  and  is  obliged  to  wait 
in  gloomy  suspense  for  the  revelations  of  chance,  as  they 
are  made  in  his  actual  experience.  If  it  be  true  that 
there  is  no  intelligent  Governour  of  the  Universe,  and  no 
fixed  laws  for  the  regulation  of  events,  then  I  ask  the 
Atheist  where  is  his  security  that  his  hands  and  feet  will 
not  change  places  to-morrow ;  or  that  he  may  not  be 
transformed  into  an  owl,  or  a  monkey,  or  a  serpent  ?  I 
charge  him  with  inconsistency  in  doing  as  other  men 
do — in  making  calculations  for  the  future ;  for  why  cal- 
culate upon  any  thing,  where  chance  has  the  controul  of 
every  thing  ?  Does  he  tell  me  that  the  operations  of 
chance,  as  they  have  hitherto  fallen  under  his  observa- 
tion, have  been  so  uniform  that  he  ventures  to  believe 
that  the  thing  that  hath  been  will  be  ?  Then  I  ask 
him  whether  this  regularity  is  not  contrary  to  the  very 
nature  of  chance ;  and  whether,  if  he  contemplates  it  a 
little  longer,  he  will  not  see  that  his  whole  system  is 
based  in  contradiction  and  absurdity  ?  But  suppose  the 
privilege  be  allowed  him  of  reasoning  from  the  past  to 
the  future,  so  far  as  the  present  life  is  concerned,  yet 
surely  he  can  form  no  conclusions  in  respect  to  the  con- 
sequences of  death,  for  those  consequences  have  never 
come  within  the  range  of  his  observation.  He  professes 
indeed  to  believe  that  the  spirit  dies,  because  his  senses 
do  not  take  cognizance  of  its  separate  existence ;  but 


WITH    ATHEISM.  27 

how  can  he  be  assured  of  this,  if  his  favourite  doctrine 
of  chance  be  true?  That  chance  has  sometimes  sport- 
ed with  his  happiness  here  he  cannot  deny  :  how  then 
does  he  know  but  that,  from  having  exercised  her  reign 
with  comparative  lenity,  she  may  station  herself  on  a 
throne  of  vengeance,  and  surround  herself  with  the  in- 
signia of  wo,  and  bathe  herself  in  a  fountain  of  blood, 
and  cruelly  mock  his  sweet  hope  of  annihilation?  How 
does  he  know  but  that  she  may  force  upon  his  eye,  as  it 
glares  in  the  last  agony,  a  sentence  written  by  her  own 
dark  fingers,  consigning  him  to  an  illimitable  course  of 
suffering  ?  Why  may  she  not  stand  ready,  the  moment 
the  breath  stops,  to  renew  his  existence  in  some  other 
form,  and  to  perpetuate  his  existence  in  some  other  world, 
where  every  object  will  be  clothed  with  terror,  every 
thought  will  be  a  channel  of  agony  ?  I  know  the  Athe- 
ist believes  he  shall  be  annihilated ;  but  he  may,  even 
upon  his  own  principles,  chance  to  be  immortal. 

But  where  Atheism  generates  the  horrours  of  suspense, 
Christianity  brings  the  confidence  of  certainty.  She 
does  not  indeed  lay  open  to  man  the  whole  plan  of  God's 
operations ;  but  she  reveals  to  him  every  thing  that  it  is 
important  for  him  to  know ; — as  much  probably  as  he  is 
able  to  comprehend.  The  great  fact  that  there  is  a  future 
life  she  places  in  the  light  of  noon  day.  The  fact  that 
there  is  a  glorious  Heaven  within  our  reach,  the  means 
by  which  it  may  be  obtained,  and  the  evidence  of  our 
title  to  it,  she  leaves  unembarrassed  even  by  conjecture. 
She  does  not  indeed  forewarn  us  of  all  the  particular 
changes  which  await  us  in  the  present  life ;  but  she  does 
what  is  incomparably  better, — points  out  the  means  by 
which  every  change  may  be  rendered  a  blessing ; — every 
affliction  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  eternal  weight  of 
glory.     In  short,  while  Atheism  unsettles  every  thing, 


28  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

Christianity  renders  every  thing  certain.  While  Athe- 
ism sickens  the  soul  with  suspense,  or  chills  it  with  de- 
spair, Christianity  permits  it  to  walk  with  confidence 
through  a  broad  field  of  glorious  realities. 

2.  Atheism  supplies  no  object  adequate  to  fill  the  ca- 
pacities of  the  soul:  such  an  object  is  supplied  by 
Christianity. 

Let  man  have  originated  as  he  may,  one  thing  is  cer- 
tain— that  he  has  some  how  or  other  wonderful  capaci- 
ties— capacities  for  thought — capacities  for  feehng — ca- 
pacities for  enjoyment : — and  these  capacities  must  have 
an  adequate  object,  else  man  is  not  happy.  Now  the 
Atheist  is  constituted  in  this  respect  just  as  other  men 
are ;  and  he  is  subject  to  the  same  great  laws  in  respect 
to  the  means  of  happiness  with  those  who  own  their  im- 
mortality :  in  this  respect  as  in  every  other,  the  consti- 
tution of  his  nature  is  at  issue  with  the  doctrines  of  his 
creed.  But  in  excluding  God  fiom  the  universe,  he 
shuts  out  the  only  object  by  which  the  capacities  of  his 
soul  can  be  filled.  He  has  nothing  left  but  this  poor 
world;  and  what  is  that  to  feed  the  human  spirit  .^ — 
Especially  what  is  it  when  it  is  bereaved  of  its  God : 
and  thus  the  brightest  sun  that  illumines  it  is  extin- 
guished, and  the  glory  that  really  hangs  around  it,  va- 
nishes ?  The  world  is  not  adequate  to  fill  the  soul,  even 
when  \aewed  in  the  mirror  of  Christian  Philosophy,  as 
Jehovah's  work :  what  then  shall  be  said  of  it,  when 
viewed  in  connexion  with  the  doctrines  of  Atheism, 
especially  with  the  doctrine  that  all  things  five  and 
move  and  have  their  being  in  chance  ? 

But  the  Christian  has^  in  the  God  of  the  Bible,  an 
object  by  which  the  capacities  of  the  soul  are  completely 
filled.  As  an  object  of  thought,  every  other  being  in 
comparison  with  him  dwindles  to  nothing;  for  there  is 


WITH     ATHEISM.  29 

a  depth  of  riches  in  his  perfections  which  even  angeUck 
faculties  will  never  be  able  to  fathom.  As  an  object  of 
affection,  he  is  all  that  the  soul  can  ask ;  for  there  are 
treasures  of  love  in  his  heart  which  an  angelick  tongue 
might  labour  in  vain  to  proclaim.  As  an  object  of  confi- 
dence, he  leaves  every  other  in  the  shade;  for  upon 
what  can  the  soul  rely  so  safely  as  infinite  power,  wis- 
dom, goodness  and  faithfulness?  In  short,  his  charac- 
ter presents  an  immeasurable  field  of  glory,  over  which 
every  faculty  of  the  mind  and  every  feeling  of  the  heart 
may  wander  forever,  without  satiety  and  without  disap- 
pointment. 

3.  If  Christianity  he  true^  Atheism  hazards  every 
thing :  if  Atheism  be  true,  Christianity  hazards  no- 
thing. 

Christianity  takes  for  granted  that  man  is  a  ruined 
sinner;  and  though  she  does  nothing  to  bring  him  into 
condemnation,  yet  she  lifts  up  her  voice  to  second  the 
warnings  of  his  own  conscience  that  he  is  condemned ; 
and  she  claims  to  be  a  messenger  of  mercy,  bringing 
terms  of  deliverance  and  salvation,  which  he  must  ac- 
cept at  the  peril  of  his  soul.  Her  language  is  no  less 
decisive  than  this — "He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved, 
and  he  that  beheveth  not  shall  be  damned."  The  Athe- 
ist believes  not; — and  this  is  not  all — he  pours  contempt 
upon  the  whole  scheme  of  redemption ;  and  he  not  only 
rejects  the  Son,  but  the  Father  who  sent  him.  If  Chris- 
tianity then  be  what  she  claims  to  be,  there  is  a  curse 
hanging  over  the  head  of  the  Atheist,  which  has  in  it  a 
height  and  a  depth  of  wo,  which  it  has  not  entered  the 
mind  of  man  to  conceive.  Nay,  if  Christianity  be  a 
fable,  and  natural  rehgion  only  be  admitted,  what  h£Ls 
he  to  expect  but  that  she  will  take  terrible  vengeance 
upon  him  for  the  despite  shown  to  her  authority  ?    Yes, 

3* 


30  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

only  admit  that  there  is  a  God  in  Heaven,  and  the  Athe- 
ist may  well  pant  for  annihilation  rather  than  fall  into 
his  hands. 

But  if  Atheism  be  true,  the  Christian  hazards  nothing 
by  rejecting  it.  Upon  the  Atheist's  own  principles,  the 
Christian  is  in  every  respect  as  safe  as  himself  I  shall 
sleep  in  the  grave  of  annihilation  as  quietly  as  he  :  and 
he  shall  not  be  able  to  laugh  at  me  for  my  credulity, 
when  neither  he  nor  I  have  any  longer  an  existence.  I 
have  gained  something  in  the  enjoyment  which  Chris- 
tianity has  yielded  me  here ;  I  have  found  much  com- 
fort in  beheving  that  a  gracious  Providence  watches  over 
me,  and  sometimes  have  had  bright  and  cheering  visions 
of  the  future ;  and  if  death  is  an  eternal  sleep,  I  would 
still  bless  Christianity  for  the  pleasant  dreams  which  she 
has  caused  to  come  over  me,  especially  as  I  sliall  not 
feel  the  disappointment  when  I  have  ceased  to  exists  In 
any  case  then,  I  am  on  better  ground  than  the  Atheist ; 
for  I  am  certain  that  my  lot  hereafter  cannot  be  worse 
than  his,  and  here  I  am  sure  it  is  better. 

Are  we  not  then  fairly  brought  to  the  conclusion  that 
Atheism  mocks,  and  Christianity  meets,  that  desire  in 
the  heart  of  man  in  which  all  other  desires  are  included? 
If  Atheism  yields  suspense,  and  Christianity  produces 
certainty ;  if  Atheism  leaves  the  soul  without  any  object 
adequate  to  fill  its  capacities,  and  Christianity  supplies 
one  which  is  entirely  adequate ;  if  Atheism  runs  an  in- 
finite hazard;  and  Christianity  runs  no  hazard,  who  will 
hesitate  to  acknowledge  the  contrast  between  Christian- 
ity and  Atheism  in  their  influence  upon  the  happiness  of 
man? 

IV.  It  only  remains,  fourthly,  to  contrast  the  influence 
of  the  two  systems  upon  the  life.  And  in  doing  this 
I  shall  detain  you  with  but  few  remarks. 


WITH    ATHEISM.  31 

The  life  is  only  the  outward  expression  of  the  inward 
feelings  and  principles  ;  and  the  one  corresponds  to  the 
other,  as  the  impression  on  the  wax  corresponds  to  the 
seal  by  which  it  is  made.  Every  good  tree  bringeth 
forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil 
fruit.  The  legitimate  fruit  of  a  darkened  conscience 
and  a  depraved  heart,  is  a  course  of  evil  doing :  the  le- 
gitimate fruit  of  an  enlightened  conscience  and  a  sanc- 
tified heart,  is  a  course  of  well-doing ; — a  life  over  which 
virtue,  in  all  her  loveliness  and  majesty,  steadily  presides. 

Now  have  we  not  seen  that  Atheism  is  a  deadly  poi- 
son in  the  fountains  of  moral  action  •  that  Christianity 
imparts  to  them  a  pure  and  healthful  influence  ?  Have 
we  not  seen  that  Atheism  renders  the  conscience  dark 
and  powerless,  thus  removing  the  strongest  barriers  to 
crime;— that  Christianity  enhghtens  and  quickens  it, 
thus  opposing  the  most  formidable  resistance  to  crime  ? 
Have  we  not  seen  tliat,  under  the  influence  of  iltheism, 
the  heart  contracts  a  withering  selfishness,  a  brutal  ob- 
duracy, a  wretched  debasement ;  that,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Christianity,  it  becomes  generous  and  tender, 
and  lifts  itself  up  in  great  and  subhme  aspirations  ?  Are 
we  not  then  irresistibly  conducted  to  the  conclusion  that 
Christianity  must  have  its  fruit  in  a  virtuous  hfe ;  that 
Atheism  must  have  its  fruit  in  a  vicious  Ufe  ? 

I  say  it  must  be  so,  judging  from  the  universal  laws 
of  moral  action  ;  and  I  go  farther  and  say  that  it  is  so; 
and  sustain  myself  in  the  assertion  by  a  reference  to  the 
history  both  of  Atlieism  and  of  Christianity. 

The  great  jubilee  of  Atheism,  you  know,  was  the 
French  Revolution.  Then  her  volcanic  fires  which  had 
been  silently  accumulating  while  the  world  was  asleep, 
broke  forth  with  the  fury  of  a  long  imprisoned  element, 
and  converted  a  whole  country,  for  a  time,  into  one  burn- 


32  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

ing  field  of  desolation.  It  was  just  when  France  de- 
creed that  she  was  without  a  God  and  that  she  would 
have  none ;  when  she  inscribed  upon  her  tomb  stones 
and  upon  the  gates  of  her  sepulchres,  "  Death  an  eter- 
nal sleep"  ;  when  she  caused  Atheism  to  ride  in  triumph 
in  all  her  high  places,  and  hunted  Christianity  into  the 
caves  and  dens  of  the  earth  ; — it  was  just  then  that  her 
blood  flowed  like  a  river,  and  the  guillotine  rested  not 
from  its  work  day  nor  night.  I  need  not  tell  you  how 
suspicion  took  the  place  of  confidence ;  how  every  thing 
that  is  kindly  and  generous  in  the  human  heart  withered 
away,  and  every  thing  that  is  selfish,  and  base,  and 
cruel,  grew  rank  and  flourishing  ;  how  the  tenderest  re- 
lations of  life  lost  all  their  sacredness,  and  the  heart's 
blood  was  often  let  out  by  the  hand  which  was  pledged 
to  offices  of  friendship ;  how  suicide  multiplied  its  victims 
by  thousands,  as  if  it  were  on  a  race  with  the  guillotine ; 
how  the  last  vestige  of  domestick  happiness  was  blotted 
out,  and  law,  and  order,  and  civilization,  were  entombed, 
and  every  man  trembled  at  the  touch  of  his  fellow  man, 
lest  the  next  moment  a  dagger  should  be  plunged  into  his 
bosom.  It  was  as  if  the  heavens  were  pouring  down 
torrents  of  blood ;  as  if  the  earth  were  heaving  forth  surges 
of  fire ;  as  if  the  atmosphere  were  impregnated  with  the 
elements  of  death ;  while  the  reign  of  Atheism  lasted. 
Other  nations  saw  the  smoke  of  the  torment,  as  it 
ascended  up,  and  trembled  lest  upon  them  also  the  day 
of  vengeance  was  about  to  open. 

Now  to  these  bloody  triumphs  of  Atheism  durmg  the 
French  Revolution,  let  me  oppose  the  mild  and  gracious 
triumphs  of  Christianity  during  the  apostolick  age ;  for 
that  no  doubt  was  the  period  of  her  greatest  purity. 
She  made  conquests,  but  they  were  bloodless  conquests; 
they  were  the  concjuests  of  truth,  and  grace,  and  love. 


WITH    ATHEISM.  33 

She  never  drew  a  dagger,  though  her  votaries  often 
meekly  received  it  into  their  own  bosoms.  She  never 
gathered  fagots  for  the  burning  of  her  enemies ;  though 
her  votaries  often  felt  the  fagots  on  fire  wasting  away 
their  own  flesh.  The  spirit  of  kindness  was  in  her 
heart.  The  law  of  kindness  was  upon  her  lips.  Deeds 
of  kindness  were  her  every  day  work.  She  was  in  the 
midst  of  enemies  who  would  gladly  have  crushed  her ; 
but  even  they  were  obliged  to  render  a  tribute  to  her  ex- 
cellence. Pilate  could  find  no  fault  in  the  Author  of 
Christianity  ;  neither  could  they  who  came  after  Pilate 
find  any  just  ground  of  accusatioQ  against  Christianity 
herself.  She  was  maligned ;  she  was  insulted  ;  she  was 
persecuted  ;  but  she  kept  steadily  forward  in  the  execu- 
tion of  her  design  to  renovate  and  bless  the  world. 

But  lest  you  should  imagine  that  the  contrast  which 
I  have  now  exhibited  is  too  general,  as  relating  rather  to 
the  influence  exerted  upon  communities  than  upon  indi- 
viduals, let  me,  for  a  moment,  show  you  what  the  two 
systems  can  do,  have  done,  for  individual  character ; 
and  I  can  think  of  no  two  names  to  which  I  may  refer 
with  more  confidence  in  the  way  of  illustration,  than 
Voltaire  and  Wilberforce  ; — both  of  them  names  which 
stand  out  with  prominence  upon  the  world's  history; 
and  each,  in  its  own  way,  imperishable. 

Voltaire  was  perhaps  the  master  spirit  in  the  school  of 
French  Atheism*  ;  and  though  he  was  not  alive  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  horrours  of  the  revolution,  probably  he  did 

*  I  am  not  aware  that  Voltaire  ever  formally  professed  himself  au 
Atheist;  and  I  well  know  that  his  writings  contain  some  things  which 
would  seem  incor.sistent  with  atheistical  opinions.  But  not  only  are 
many  of  his  works  deeply  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  Atheism,  but  there 
is  scarcely  a  doctrine  of  natural  religion  which  he  has  not  somewhere 
directly  and  bitterly  assailed;  so  that  I  cannot  doubt  that  he  falls  fairly 
into  the  ranks  of  those  who  say,  "  there  is  no  God." 


34  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

more  by  his  writings  to  combine  the  elements  for  that 
tremendous  tempest  than  any  other  man.  And  now  I 
undertake  to  say  that  you  may  draw  a  character  in 
which  there  shall  be  as  much  of  the  blackness  of  moral 
turpitude  as  your  imagination  can  supply,  and  yet  you 
shall  not  have  exceeded  the  reality  as  it  was  found  in  the 
character  of  this  apostle  of  Atheism.  You  may  throw 
into  it  the  darkest  shades  of  selfishness,  making  the  man 
a  perfect  idolater  of  himself;  you  may  paint  the  serpent 
in  his  most  wily  form  to  represent  deceit  and  cunning ; 
you  may  let  sensuality  stand  forth  in  all  the  loathsome- 
ness of  a  beast  in  the  mire ;  you  may  bring  out  envy, 
and  malice,  and  all  the  baser,  and  all  the  darker,  pas- 
sions, drawing  nutriment  from  the  pit ;  and  when  you 
have  done  this,  you  may  contemplate  the  character  of 
Voltaire,  and  exclaim,  '•  Here  is  the  monstrous  original !" 
The  fires  of  his  genius  kindled  only  to  wither  and  con- 
sume ;  he  stood,  for  almost  a  century,  a  great  tree  of 
poison,  not  only  cumbering  the  ground,  but  infusing 
death  into  the  atmosphere ;  and  though  its  foliage  has 
long  since  dropped  off,  and  its  branches  have  withered, 
and  its  trunk  fallen,  under  the  hand  of  time,  its  deadly 
root  still  remains ;  and  the  very  earth  that  nourishes  it 
is  cursed  for  its  sake. 

And  now  I  will  speak  of  Wilberforce ;  and  I  do  it 
with  gratitude  and  triumph  ; — gratitude  to  the  God  who 
made  him  what  he  was ;  triumph,  that  there  is  that  in 
his  very  name  which  ought  to  make  Atheism  turn  pale. 
Wilberforce  was  the  friend  of  man.  Wilberforce  was 
the  friend  of  enslaved  and  wretched  man.  Wilberforce 
(for  I  love  to  repeat  his  name)  consecrated  the  energies 
of  his  whole  life  to  one  of  the  noblest  objects  of  benevo- 
lence :  it  was  in  the  cause  of  injured  Africa  that  he  often 
passed  the  night  in  intense  and  wakeful  thought ;  that 


WITH    ATHEISM.  35 

he  counselled  with  the  wise,  and  reasoned  with  the  un- 
believing, and  expostulated  with  the  unmerciful ;  that 
his  heart  burst  forth  with  all  its  melting  tenderness,  and 
his  genius  with  all  its  electrick  fire ;  that  he  turned  the 
most  accidental  meeting  into  a  conference  for  the  relief 
of  human  wo,  and  converted  even  the  Senate  House 
into  a  theatre  of  benevolent  action.  Though  his  zeal 
had  at  one  time  almost  eaten  him  up,  and  the  vigour  of 
his  frame  was  so  far  gone  that  he  stooped  over  and  looked 
into  his  own  grave,  yet  his  faith  failed  not ;  his  fortitude 
failed  not ;  and  blessed  be  God,  the  vital  spark  was  kin- 
dled up  anew,  and  he  kept  on  labouring  through  a  long 
succession  of  years ;  and  at  length,  just  as  his  friends 
were  gathering  around  him  to  receive  his  last  whisper, 
and  the  angels  were  gathering  around  to  receive  his  de- 
parting spirit,  the  news,  worthy  to  be  borne  by  angels,  was 
brought  to  him,  that  the  great  object  to  which  his  life 
had  been  given  was  gained ;  and  then,  Simeon -like, 
he  clasped  his  hands  to  die ;  and  went  off  to  Heaven 
with  the  sound  of  deliverance  to  the  captive  vibrating 
sweetly  upon  his  ear. 

Both  Voltaire  and  Wilberforce  are  dead  ;  but  each  of 
them  lives  in  the  character  he  has  left  behind  him. — 
And  now  who  does  not  delight  to  honour  the  character  of 
the  one ;  who  does  not  shudder  to  contemplate  the  charac- 
ter of  the  other?  I  once,  for  a  moment,  slood  by  the  dark 
cell  in  which  the  mortal  part  of  Voltaire  is  entombed ; 
and  I  could  not  resist  the  impression  that  it  was  no  ordina- 
ry sepulchral  gloom  that  was  hanging  around  me:  and  I 
remember  that  my  guide  through  the  cemetery  designa- 
ted the  spot  in  a  kind  of  under  tone  of  horrour,  which 
seemed  to  say  that  even  he  had  associated  it  with  the 
prospect  of  the  resurrection  of  damnation.  But  who 
could  stand  by  the  grave  of  Wilberforce  without  a  flood 


36  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

of  sweet  and  glorious  recollections  ?  Who  would  not 
delight  to  make  his  grave  as  fragrant  with  flowers  as 
his  memory  is  fragrant  with  virtues  ? 

And  now,  may  I  not  ask,  do  I  wrong  the  Atheist,  if 
I  call  him  a  monster  7  For  is  not  he  a  monster  who 
has  been  created  by  the  divine  hand,  and  lives  upon  the 
divine  bounty,  and  yet  denies  the  divine  existence?  Is 
not  he  a  monster  who  lifts  his  feeble  arm  to  shut  the 
great  Creator  out  of  his  universe ;  who  moves  his  stam- 
mering tongue  to  defy  all  the  power  that  there  is  above 
him ;  who  obstinately  shuts  his  ear  against  the  ten  thou- 
sand voices  that  speak  to  him  of  Jehovah  ?  May  I  not 
call  him  a  monster  who,  with  a  parricidal  spirit,  would 
strike  at  the  existence  of  his  Father  and  my  Father; 
who  would  mock  my  best  hopes  by  talking  to  me  of  an- 
nihilation ;  who  would  sunder  all  the  ties  of  gratitude 
and  affection  that  bind  me  to  my  fellow  men  ;  who 
would  dry  up  every  fountain  of  joy,  and  open  upon  me 
the  flood  gates  of  avo  ?  I  do  not  say  that  he  will  ever 
be  a  suicide ;  but  I  choose  to  wait  till  his  breath  has  left 
him,  before  I  assure  myself  of  the  contrary.  I  do  not 
decide  that  he  wiW  turn  out  an  assassin ;  but  if  I  sup- 
posed he  were  in  circumstances  in  which  he  might  pro- 
fit by  my  death,  I  should  be  afraid  to  meet  him  in  the 
dark.  He  is  a  monster  in  his  creed ;  and  if  his  creed 
have  its  legitimate  influence  over  him,  he  is  a  monster 
in  his  feelings ;  and  if  his  feelings  be  not  greatly  re- 
strained by  countervaihng  influences,  he  is  a  monster  in 
his  conduct. 

Do  I  wrong  the  Atheist  if  I  call  him  a/ooZ  7 — But  I 
borrow  from  authority  which  none  of  us  will  dispute : — 
"The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God." 
And  point  me  to  one  who  deserves  the  name,  if  the  Athe- 
ist does  not  deserve  it?    When  the  evidences  of  the  di- 


WITH    ATHEISM.  37 

vine  existence  beam  forth  in  a  flood  of  liglit  from  every 
part  of  the  universe,  he  shuts  his  eyes  upon  it  all,  and 
walks  about  in  a  deep  darkness  of  his  own  creation. 
When  God  offers  himself  to  him  as  a  Protector,  a  Guide, 
a  Saviour,  he  insultingly  turns  away  from  him  as  if  he 
had  no  existence  but  in  the  dreams  of  children ;  and 
commits  himself  to  the  protection  of  chance.  When 
immortal  glory  is  fairly  within  his  reach,  and  the  path 
to  immortal  glory  is  clearly  marked  out  to  him,  his  eye 
is  attracted  away  from  the  brightness  of  this  prospect, 
and  he  would  fain  have  us  believe  that  his  heart  lingers 
joyfully  upon  the  black  horrours  of  annihilation.  He 
determines  that  he  will  not  exist,  when  God  has  decreed 
to  him  an  immortaht}^ ;  and  while  he  imagines  that  he 
is  dancing  about  the  grave  of  his  own  spirit,  he  is  really 
dancing  on  the  margin  of  that  gulf  in  which  his  spirit 
will  writhe  and  sink  amidst  the  horrours  of  an  ever  living 
death.  Yes,  God  himself  has  called  him  a  fool ;  and 
the  experience  of  his  whole  eternity  will  show  him  how 
well  he  deserved  the  name. 

I  was  about  to  ask.  Do  I  wrong  the  Atheist  if  I  call 
him  a  hrute?  But  this  is  rather  what  he  claims  to  be, 
than  what  he  really  is.  He  may  indeed,  upon  his  own 
principles,  herd  with  the  wild  beast  upon  the  mountains, 
or  creep  with  the  reptile  on  the  earth  ;  and  there  is  not 
one  of  the  animal  creation,  so  terrible  for  its  fierceness, 
so  contemptible  for  its  httleness,  so  disgusting  for  its 
loathsomeness,  but  he  may  consistently  take  it  to  his 
bosom  as  a  brother ;  for  though  he  is  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge that  human  reason  is  somewhat  above  ani- 
mal instinct,  yet  he  regards  both  as  accidental  properties 
of  matter,  which  are  destined  to  expire  in  an  eternal 
night  of  unconsciousness.  But  though  he  may  be  a 
brute  in  his  feeUngs,  and  a  brute  in  his  aspirations,  he 


38  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

will  find  himself  far  removed  from  a  brute  in  his  destiny  : 
for  that  spirit  within  him  shall  run  parallel  in  its  existence 
with  the  immortality  of  God.  Yes,  he  is  ray  brother  : 
and  I  would  fain  proffer  him  the  aid  of  a  brother's  hand, 
to  lead  him  out  of  this  labyrinth  into  which  he  has  vo- 
luntarily plunged :  I  would  fain  proffer  him  the  sympa- 
thy of  a  brother's  heart,  in  view  of  his  being  dead  to  all 
the  glories  of  an  immortal  existence :  I  would  fain  proi- 
fer  him  the  benefit  of  a  brother's  prayers,  that  his  heart 
may  begin  to  beat  to  the  honour  not  only  of  a  creating 
but  redeeming  God.  Come,  then,  thrice  blessed  Chris- 
tianity, and  cast  out  the  unclean  spirit  from  his  bosom  : 
come  and  pour  thy  light  upon  his  eye,  and  take  up  thy 
residence  in  his  heart !  In  the  brightness  of  thy  beams 
let  him  see  the  immortality  of  his  own  spirit !  When  the 
sun  henceforth  rises  upon  him,  and  the  face  of  nature 
smiles  upon  him  ;  when  his  eye  is  filled  with  beauty, 
and  his  ear  is  filled  with  melody ;  let  him  see  that  in  all 
this  there  is  a  testimony  to  the  existence  and  presence  of 
God  !  Lay  upon  him  thy  wonder  working  hand,  and 
mould  him  into  a  fit  companion  for  the  angels  !  Divine 
Christianity,  be  thine  the  work  of  subduing  him,  and 
thine  the  glory  of  the  conquest ! 


LECTURE  II. 


CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH  PAGANISM. 


Romans  i.   16. 

/  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

IN   CONNEXION   WITH 

Romans  i,  23. 

And  changed  the  glory  of  the  uncorruptible  God 

into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds, 
oMd  four  footed  beasts,  and  creeping  things. 

It  may  possibly  occur  to  some  of  you  that,  in  passing 
from  Atheism,  a  system  which  acknowledges  no  God, 
to  Paganism,  a  system  which  recognises  a  plurality  of 
gods,  I  am  making  a  somewhat  violent  transition.  But 
a  moment's  reflection,  I  think,  will  satisfy  you  that  the 
distance  between  them  is  much  less  than  you  might  at 
first  imagine.  The  doctrine  of  the  divine  existence  is 
the  foundation  of  all  religion.  As  Atheism  completely 
annihilates  religion  by  blotting  out  that  doctrine,  so  Pa- 
ganism bereaves  religion  of  its  glory  by  a  wretched  per- 
version of  it.  The  territories  of  Atheism  do  indeed  con- 
stitute the  darkest  part  of  the  whole  region  of  errour; — 
the  part  which  lies  nearest  to  the  abodes  of  eternal  dark- 


40 


CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 


ness  :  but  adjacent  to  these  are  the  dominions  of  Pagan- 
ism ;  and  so  much  do  they  resemble  each  other,  that  an 
Apostle  has  actually  described  the  latter  by  a  reference 
to  the  most  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  former. 

The  leading  feature  of  Paganism,  you  all  know,  is 
idolatry,  or  the  substitution  of  the  creature  for  the  Crea- 
tor as  an  object  of  worship.  We  have  no  means  of  ac- 
curately fixing  the  period  when  idolatry  took  its  lise,  or 
of  ascertaining  the  manner  in  which  it  originated. — 
Some  have  conjectured  that  it  existed  before  the  flood; 
and  that  it  must  have  been  included  in  that  fearful  de- 
scription of  antediluvian  wickedness — that  '•  all  flesh 
had  corrupted  his  way  upon  the  earth."  Be  that  as  it 
may,  we  are  assured  that,  within  four  hundred  years 
after  the  deluge,  it  had,  to  a  great  extent,  overspread 
the  world  ;  for,  at  that  period,  God  called  Abraham  out 
of  Chaldea  for  the  special  purpose  of  preserving  the 
knowledge  of  his  unity  and  perfection.  From  that  time 
to  the  period  of  Messiah's  advent,  idolatry  prevailed 
among  all  the  nations,  with  the  single  exception  of  the 
Hebrew ;  and  even  that  nation  was  not  at  all  times  ex- 
empt from  it :  and  with  the  same  exception,  in  connex- 
ion with  those  who  have  embraced  the  religion  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  those  who  have  experienced  the  benign 
influence  of  the  gospel,  the  whole  world  has  been  under 
its  dominion  from  the  last  mentioned  period  down  to  the 
present  hovu'.  Its  standard  has  been  reared  not  only  in 
the  midst  of  intellectual  degradation  and  gross  barbarity, 
but  in  the  very  heart  of  civilization  and  refinement: 
and  if  the  wild  Indian  of  the  wilderness  deifies  the  ani- 
mal that  bounds  through  the  forest,  or  the  reptile  that 
crawls  beneath  his  feet,  so  also  has  "  the  glory  of  the  un- 
corruptible God  been  changed  into  an  image  made  hke 
to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds,  and  four  footed  beasts. 


WITH    PAGANISM.  41 

and  creeping  things,"  by  the  immortal  poets,  and  philo- 
sophers, and  oratois,  of  Greece  and  Rome.  It  is  estima- 
ted that,  at  this  hour,  idolatry  in  connexion  with  the 
monstrous  system  of  errour  to  which  it  belongs,  consti- 
tutes the  religion  of  no  less  than  five-eighths  of  the  world's 
whole  population.  It  is,  of  course,  subject  to  various 
modifications,  arising  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
different  countries  and  different  periods ;  but  in  respect 
to  all  its  essential  features,  it  is,  in  every  country,  and  at 
every  period,  the  same. 

My  design  in  this  discourse  is  to  exhibit  the  contrast 
which  is  presented  by  the  two  passages  which  I  have 
just  read  to  you  ; — the  contrast  between  Paganism  and 
Christianity.  You  will  perceive  at  once,  however,  that 
I  can  do  nothing  more  than  treat  the  subject  in  a  gene- 
ral manner ;  not  only  because  the  field  which  it  opens 
is  of  almost  itnmeasurable  extent,  but  because  a  large 
part  of  the  facts  connected  with  it  could  not  be  recited 
in  consistency  with  the  decormn  that  is  due  to  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  assembled.  In  illustrating 
the  character  of  Paganism,  I  shall  feel  iriyself  at  liberty 
to  select  facts  from  any  part  of  the  wide  field  before  me, 
without  respect  either  to  the  past  or  the  present,  to  a  siate 
of  refinement  or  a  state  of  barbarism. 

We  will  consider  the  contrast  between  the  two  sys- 
tems in  respect  to 

I.  The  DOCTRINES  which  they  inculcate: 

II.  The  WORSHIP  which  they  enjoin: 

III.  The  MORALITY  which  they  produce. 

I.  The  DOCTRINES  which  they  inculcate. 
1.  Paganism  teaches  that  there  is  a  'plurality  of  gods: 
Christianity,  that  there  is  hut  one  God. 

4* 


42  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

If  we  look  into  the  sacred  scriptures,  we  shall  find 
overwhelming  evidence  that  the  heathen  nations  of  an- 
tiquity did  not  limit  themselves  to  one  object  of  religious 
worship  :  insomuch  that  they  are  most  frecjuently  desig- 
nated by  a  reference  to  the  plurality,  and  sometimes  to 
the  multitude,  of  their  gods.  In  announcing  to  the  Is- 
raelites his  determination  to  effect  their  deliverance  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  Jehovah  declares,  "Against  all  the 
gods  of  Egypt  I  will  execute  judgment."  In  giving 
them  directions  in  respect  to  the  course  they  should  adopt 
after  their  arrival  in  Canaan,  he  says,  "  Ye  shall  utterly 
destroy  all  the  places  wherein  the  nations  which  ye  shall 
possess  served  their  gods^  upon  the  high  mountains  and 
upon  the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree ; — and  ye 
shall  hew  down  the  graven  images  of  their  gods^  and 
destroy  the  names  of  them  out  of  that  place."  Even 
the  Jewish  nation  themselves  gradually  fell  into  gross 
idolatry ;  insomuch  that,  during  the  administration  oi' 
the  judges,  the  sacred  historian  informs  us  that  "  they 
served  Baalim  and  Ashteroth,  and  the  gods  of  Syria, 
and  the  gods  of  Zidon,  and  the  gods  of  Moab,  and  the 
gods  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  and  the  gods  of  the 
PhiUistines,  and  forsook  the  Lord  and  served  not  him." 
I  do  not  here  inquire  what  were  the  particular  properties 
or  provinces  of  these  gods :  I  only  adduce  these  passages 
to  prove  that  the  scriptures  recognise  the  heathen  religion 
as  having  its  foundation  in  polytheism. 

If  we  turn  to  profane  history,  we  shall  find  it  render- 
ing a  most  decisive  testimony  in  perfect  accordance  with 
the  scriptural  statements  on  this  subject.  Every  ancient 
nation  of  which  it  has  transmitted  to  us  any  account,  it 
represents  as  having  its  plurahty  of  gods.  The  Chal- 
deans, the  Egyptians,  the  Phenicians,  the  Carthagi- 
nians, the  Assyrians,  the  Babylonians,  the  Medes  and 


WITH    PAGANISM.  43 

Persians,  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  are  all  represented  as 
Polytheists.  In  the  time  of  Hesiod,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  flourished  about  nine  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
Greece  had  her  thirty  thousand  gods,  who  were  consi- 
dered as  in  a  sense  domesticated;  and  in  addition  to 
these,  according  to  Arch-bishop  Potter,  there  was  a  cus- 
tom which  obliged  them  to  entertain  many  strange  de- 
ities. 

The  nations  of  whose  Polytheism  history  has  given 
us  a  more  full  account  than  any  other,  are  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  And  while  their  historians  have  been 
abundantly  explicit,  their  poets  have  also  added  a  most 
important  testimony.  For  though  it  be  conceded  that 
the  productions  of  this  latter  class  are,  to  a  great  extent, 
works  of  imagination,  yet  it  must  also  be  conceded  that 
their  machinery  was  constructed  from  the  popular  my- 
thology ;  and  who  does  not  know  that  they  abound  with 
allusions  to  the  gods;  and  that  if  the  agency  of  Jupiter 
and  Juno,  Mars  and  Minerva,  ^Eolus  and  Neptune,  Ve- 
nus and  Apollo,  were  withdrawn  from  the  most  splendid 
poetical  productions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  they  would 
not  only  at  once  become  frigid  and  uninteresting,  but 
well  nigh  cease  to  have  an  existence?  The  philoso- 
phers too,  while  they  corroborate  the  historical  fact  that 
Polytheism  existed,  sanction  its  existence  in  their  grave 
instructions.  Socrates  and  Slato,  Cicero  and  Seneca, 
Epictetus  and  Marcus  Antoninus, — men  whose  names 
constitute  the  brightest  galaxy  of  the  heathen  w^orld — 
have  all,  in  one  way  or  another,  appeared  as  the  advo- 
cates of  Polytheism  ;  and  even  Aristotle,  atheistical  as 
he  was  in  some  of  his  opinions,  still  recommended  the 
worship  of  the  gods,  as  a  service  due  from  the  citizen 
to  the  magistrate. 


44  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

I  have  spoken  of  the  past :  but  if  we  look  abroad  upon 
the  Pagan  nations  of  the  present  day,  we  shall  see  no- 
thing to  vary  our  conclusion.  Wherever  man  has  lost 
sight  of  the  true  God,  and  has  not  plunged  into  absolute 
Atheism,  there  he  has  multiplied  the  objects  of  idol  wor- 
ship. Hindostan  alone  is  said  to  contain  no  less  than 
three  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  gods ;  all  in  some 
form  or  other  receiving  the  homage  of  immortal  beings. 
Indeed  you  may  go  into  any  country  you  please  where 
Paganism  reigns,  and  you  will  find  it  thickly  peopled 
with  deities. 

In  opposition  to  all  this,  Christianity  asserts  that  there 
is  but  one  God ;  and  in  doing  so  she  only  echoes  the 
testimony  of  uncorrupted  reason.  One  God,  such  as 
she  recognises,  seems  to  her  adequate  to  every  purpose : 
while  millions  of  gods  of  any  other  character,  would  be 
inadequate  to  any  end  for  which  divine  agency  is  need- 
ed. In  all  the  forms  of  existence  by  which  she  is  sur- 
rounded, and  to  which  she  can  gain  access  ;  in  the  laws 
which  regulate  the  natural  world,  and  in  the  laws  which 
regulate  the  moral  world,  she  perceives  a  perfect  unity 
of  design:  and  she  cannot  believe  that  this  could  have 
been  the  result  of  separate,  much  less  of  conflicting, 
agencies.  In  the  behef  of  the  divine  unity  she  has  a 
principle  that  not  only  approves  itself  to  reason  the  mo- 
ment it  is  proposed,  but  accounts  for  all  the  harmony 
that  pervades  the  creation.  Though  she  borrows  this 
principle  from  natural  religion,  yet  she  holds  it  as  the 
basis  of  all  her  own  peculiar  discoveries. 

2.  Paganism  erects  into  deities  objects  that  are  sense- 
less^ ifnperfect.  nnioorthy  :  Christianity  exhibits  a  God 
of  infinite  perfection. 

It  is  true  indeed  that  Paganism  recognises  the  exist- 
ence of  one  Supreme  Deity,  who  is  uncreated  and  eter- 


J 


WITH    PAGANISM.  45 

nal.  But  it  is  also  true  that  she  attributes  to  him  a  cha- 
racter which  renders  a  behef  in  his  existence  a  mere  un- 
important speculation.  She  supposes  him  to  be  un- 
changeable and  omnipotent,  but  without  affections  and 
without  happiness.  She  regards  him  as  having  had  no 
direct  agency  in  the  work  of  creation,  and  as  exercising 
no  superintendence  or  controul  over  the  course  of  events. 
Mean  while  the  creation  and  government  of  the  w^orld 
are  attributed  to  inferior  deities,  who  are  chiefly  the  ob- 
jects of  religious  worship,  and  who  are  supposed  to  reside 
in  almost  all  the  forms  of  animate  and  inanimate  exist- 
ence. 

It  is  not  easy  to  fasten  upon  any  object  except  the  true 
God  himself,  or  any  quality  apart  from  his  infinite  per- 
fections, on  which  Paganism  has  not,  at  some  time  or 
other,  bestowed  the  houours  of  Divinity.  The  objects 
which  she  seems  first  to  have  deified  were  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars ;  owing  no  doubt  to  the  extensive  and  propi- 
tious influence  which  these  heavenly  bodies  were  per- 
ceived to  exert  upon  the  world.  Next  in  order  probably 
were  the  spirits  of  the  illustrious  dead  ; — men  who  had 
been  regarded  during  their  lives  as  public  benefactors. 
And  when  the  principle  of  Polytheism  once  became  esta- 
blished, it  was  natural  that  men  should  select  their  dei- 
ties according  to  the  dictates  of  hope,  or  fear,  or  fancy, 
or  any  other  feeling  w4iich  might  happen  to  predominate. 
Hence  we  find  that  divine  honours  were  rendered  to 
whatever  was  found  to  be  of  great  utihty ;  to  various 
qualities  and  conditions  of  human  beings, — such  as  Fi- 
delity, Safety,  Liberty,  Concord,  and  Victory  ;  to  the  bad 
passions  and  vices,  on  the  ground  that  these  exert  a  pow- 
erful influence  on  human  conduct ;  and  finally  to  the 
prowling  beast,  to  the  ravenous  bird,  to  the  venomous 
reptile,  and  even  to  the  contemptible  insect.     Indeed  it 


46  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

has  been  conceded  by  an  eminent  writer  whose  object 
was  to  compliment  Paganism  at  the  expense  of  Revela- 
tion, that  '•  the  Gentiles  not  only  worshipped  the  whole 
world  taken  together,  but  its  parts,  yea,  even  its  particles 
or  small  parts ;  thinking  it  unbecoming  that  some  of  the 
most  minute  parts  of  him,  whom  they  regarded  as  God, 
should  be  worshipped,  and  other  parts  neglected." 

Most  of  their  celestial  deities,  which  were  the  princi- 
pal objects  of  theii-  worship,  had  once  been  men;  and 
to  many  of  them,  not  excepting  Jupiter  himself,  are  at- 
tributed the  most  degrading  vices.  They  are  represent- 
ed, sometimes  in  the  most  trifling  and  ridiculous  attitude; 
sometimes  as  yielding  to  excessive  anger  and  engaged 
in  desperate  quarrels  ;  sometimes  as  corroded  by  envy  or 
jealousy,  and  laying  plans  to  defeat  each  other's  purposes ; 
and  even  the  best  of  them  are  exhibited  with  faihngs 
which  may  well  lead  us  to  wonder,  not  only  that  they 
should  have  been  worshipped  as  gods,  but  that  they 
should  have  been  more  than  tolerated  as  men. 

Nor  has  Paganism  improved  in  respect  to  the  charac- 
ter of  her  gods,  in  modern  times.  The  Indians  of  our 
own  wilderness  are  perhaps  less  debased  in  respect  to  the 
objects  of  their  worship  than  any  other  portion  of  the 
Pagan  world ;  and  yet  it  has  been  asserted  on  good  au- 
thority, that  even  they  not  only  worship  the  great  Spirit 
of  evil,  and  the  luminaries  of  heaven,  but  that  many  of 
them  imagine  the  deity  to  have  his  residence  in  animals, 
and  even  in  reptiles.  But  the  Eastern  nations  exceed 
even  the  ancient  Pagans  in  respect  to  the  disgusting 
character  of  their  idols.  There  is  no  combination  of 
matter  so  loathsome,  no  form  of  vice  so  degrading,  no- 
thing within  the  range  of  the  human  imagination  so 
monstrous,  but  that  it  is  enthroned,  in  some  form  or  other, 
as  an  object  of  homage. 


WITH    PAGANISM.  47 

How  delightful  to  turn  from  a  contemplation  of  the 
character  of  Pagan  deities  to  a  view  of  the  Christian's 
God !  In  his  character  there  is  no  weakness  nor  dark- 
ness, nothing  to  mar,  or  to  degrade,  or  to  constitute  the 
least  spot  in  a  blaze  of  perfect  glory.  The  gods  of  the 
heathen  see  not,  hear  not,  understand  not ;  but  our  God 
has  his  eye  open  upon  every  object,  his  ear  open  to  every 
whisper,  and  there  is  nothing  that  ever  has  occurred,  or 
ever  can  occur,  but  is  distinctly  within  his  knowledge. 
The  gods  of  the  heathen  are  most  of  them  formed  of 
corruptible  matter,  and  all  of  them  occupy  a  limited 
space :  but  our  God  is  a  spirit,  and  his  presence  fills  im- 
mensity. The  gods  of  the  heathen  have  no  power  to 
help  those  who  call  upon  them  in  the  day  of  trouble ; 
but  our  God  has  treasures  of  consolation  which  are  in- 
exhaustible. The  gods  of  the  heathen  are  many  of 
them  in  their  nature  grovelling  and  contemptible ;  and 
none  of  them  possess  any  other  than  a  borrowed  glory ; 
but  Jehovah  our  God  is  clothed  with  majesty  as  ^vith  a 
garment,  and  is  so  pure  that  the  Heavens  are  not  clean  in 
his  sight.  The  gods  of  the  heathen  perish ;  the  Chris- 
tian's God  lives  and  reigns  forever  and  ever. 

3.  Paganism  presents  at  best  a  confused  and  incon- 
sistent vietv  of  Providence :  Christianity  pours  upon  it 
a  clear  and  satisfying  light. 

Most  of  the  ancient  heathen  seem  to  have  had  some 
notion  of  a  superior  Power,  superintending  and  guiding 
the  concerns  of  the  creation ;  and  this  notion  was  care- 
fully encouraged  and  cherished  by  the  ablest  politicians, 
from  their  perceiving  how  intimately  it  was  connected 
with  good  order,  and  whatever  else  could  minister  to  the 
best  interests  of  society.  But  of  course  the  view  which 
would  be  held  of  this  subject  would  be  modified  by  the 
view  which  should  be  taken  of  the  divine  existence  and 


48  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

character ;  and  just  in  proportion  as  the  number  of  dei- 
ties increased,  and  their  character  became  degenerate, 
we  find  that  their  notions  of  a  Providence  became  nu- 
gatory and  absurd.  In  strict  accordance  with  the  doc- 
trine of  Polytheism,  they  imagined  the  government  of 
the  world  not  to  be  administered  by  any  one  being,  but 
to  be  distributed  among  numerous  gods  and  goddesses, 
each  of  whom  had,  in  some  sense,  a  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent dominion.  But  the  principal  agency,  in  the  con- 
troul  of  events,  they  attributed  to  Fortune,  whom  they 
regarded  as  a  blind,  capricious  and  inconstant  deity,  often 
frowning  upon  the  good,  and  as  often  favouring  the  un- 
worthy. They  believed,  moreover,  that  Providence  was 
concerned  only  in  regulating  the  external  circumstances 
of  our  condition ;  and  hence,  while  they  applied  to  the 
gods  for  riches,  and  health,  and  worldly  prosperity,  they 
never  thought  of  supplicating  them  for  intellectual  or 
moral  endowments.  And  finally,  they  recognised  the 
controuUing  agency  of  evil  spirits ;  for  they  offered  sa- 
crifices to  them  with  a  view  to  obtain  their  favour,  and 
secure  themselves  against  their  malignant  influence. 

And  if  such  were  the  notions  of  the  mass  of  the  hea- 
then world  in  respect  to  this  subject,  what  better  can  be 
said  of  the  views  which  were  held  by  their  philosophers'^ 
Not  a  small  part  of  them  rejected  the  idea  of  a  Provi- 
dence altogether ;  and  others  regarded  it  with  extreme 
uncertainty.  The  Epicureans,  though  they  acknow- 
ledged the  existence  of  the  gods,  maintained  that  they 
did  not  concern  themselves  at  all  with  the  affairs  of  men. 
Cicero,  in  one  of  his  most  splendid  productions,  represents 
it  as  one  of  the  great  questions  among  the  philosophers, 
whether  the  gods  existed  in  a  state  of  indifference  and 
repose,  or  whether  they  were  active  in  the  regulation  of 
human  concerns ;  and  he  introduces  a  disciple  of  Epi- 


WITH    PAGANISM.  49 

curus  to  ridicule  the  doctrine  of  Providence,  and  a  disci- 
ple of  the  Academic  school,  to  assail  it  with  all  the  force  of 
reasoning  and  eloquence.  The  great  historian,  Tacitus, 
speaks  of  the  doctrine  at  best  in  a  doubtful  manner. 
Pliny,  the  celebrated  naturalist,  treats  it  as  absolutely  ri- 
diculous. And  Csecilius,  a  learned  Roman  lawyer,  urges 
as  a  serious  objection  against  the  Christians,  that  this  doc- 
trine is  received  by  them. 

But  while  many  of  the  philosophers  doubted,  or  actu- 
ally disbelieved,  the  doctrine  of  a  Providence,  those  by 
whom  it  was  professedly  received,  had,  at  best,  but  im- 
perfect views  of  it.  There  were  some  who  admitted  it 
in  reference  to  great  and  heavenly  things,  who  denied 
that  it  had  any  application  to  the  concerns  of  this  world. 
Others  regarded  it  as  concerned  in  a  general  manner 
with  the  affairs  both  of  Heaven  and  of  earth,  but  as  not 
being  sufficiently  particular  to  extend  to  individuals. — 
Others  still,  and  among  them  Socrates  and  Plato,  be- 
lieved that  it  was  in  the  highest  degree  particular ;  but 
then  they  supposed  this  universal  dominion  to  be  vested 
in  the  stars  ;  and  hence  they  speak  of  those  who  do  not 
beheve  the  heavenly  bodies  are  animated,  as  tending  to 
Atheism.  In  short,  those  who  approached  nearest  to  the 
truth  on  this  subject,  were  still  in  bondage  to  monstrous 
errour. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show,  by  a  reference  to  the  history 
of  modern  Paganism,  that  the  views  of  the  heathen  na- 
tions respecting  Providence  have  not  grown  more  clear 
or  more  correct  from  the  lapse  of  ages.  Every  Pagan 
nation  on  earth,  at  this  moment,  is  in  deep  darkness  on 
this  subject ;  and  where  any  intelligent  agency  in  the 
government  of  the  world  is  acknowledged,  the  idea  is 
yet  so  encumbered  and  neutrahzed  by  errour,  as  to  ren- 
der it  only  better  than  absolute  Atheism. 

5 


50  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

Let  me  relieve  you  now  by  directing  your  attention  to 
the  doctrine  of  Providence,  as  it  is  inculcated  by  Chris- 
tianity. And  I  need  only  say  that  it  is,  in  every  respect, 
worthy  of  the  God  whose  character  she  reveals.  It  is 
an  intelligent  agency ; — the  agency  of  a  mind  whose 
comprehension  is  infinite.  It  is  a  universal  and  particu- 
lar agency ;  reaching  as  well  to  the  motion  of  an  atom 
as  the  revolution  of  a  globe,  to  the  condition  of  a  worm 
as  the  destiny  of  a  seraph.  It  is  a  wise  and  benevolent 
agency ;  forming  the  best  purposes,  devising  the  best 
means,  securing  the  best  results.  It  is  an  agency  which 
surrounds  and  guards  me  every  where ;  which  sustams 
and  blesses  me  every  moment ;  which  constitutes  my 
security  against  danger,  my  refuge  in  trouble,  and  the 
pillow  upon  which  I  would  lay  my  head  when  I  come 
to  die.  Surely  all  that  Paganism  has  ever  conjectured 
on  this  subject,  when  compared  with  the  sublime  doc- 
trine which  Christianity  inculcates,  is  scarcely  better  than 
a  dream  of  dehrium. 

4.  Paganism  draios  a  cloud  over  the  soiiVs  hnmor- 
tality  ;  Christianity  gloriously  illustrates  it. 

If  we  are  to  look  for  any  thing  approaching  a  con*ect 
view  of  this  subject  from  any  portion  of  the  Pagan  world, 
doubtless  it  is  from  the  philosophers  of  antiquity; — the 
men  whom  history  has  emblazoned,  as  having  done 
something  to  enlighten  the  world  during  the  long  night 
which  preceded  the  dawn  of  Christianity.  And  what 
are  the  facts  ?  Why  that  not  a  small  number  of  the 
very  master  spirits  of  that  period  held  the  soul's  immor- 
tality to  be  a  mere  dream  of  imagination ;  and  incul- 
cated with  great  zeal  and  confidence  the  doctrine  that 
death  terminates  man's  conscious  existence.  There  were 
whole  sects  of  philosophers,  such  as  the  followers  of  De- 
mocritus,  the  Cynics,  the  widely  extended  sect  of  the 


WITH    PAGANISM.  51 

Epicureans,  and  many  of  the  Peripatetics,  who  regarded 
the  doctrine  of  a  future  existence  as  a  vulgar  errour,  fit 
only  for  the  unthinking  multitude.  In  this  large  class 
of  unbelievers  must  also  be  included  Aristotle,  the  great- 
est perhaps  of  all  the  philosophers,  and  Confucius,  the 
celebrated  Chinese  philosopher ;  both  of  whom  had  large 
classes  of  followers,  and  exercised  an  almost  unlimited 
influence. 

But  there  were  others,  and  men  of  illustrious  name, 
who  acknowledged  and  taught  the  soul's  immortaUty. 
Of  these,  the  most  distinguished  were  Pythagoras,  So- 
crates, Plato  and  Cicero.  But  while  they  inculcated  the 
doctrine,  they  placed  it  on  wrong  foundations,  and  con- 
nected with  it  other  things  which  were  adapted  to  weak- 
en the  belief  of  it.  Instead  of  suffering  it  to  rest  on  the 
ground  which  Reason  suggests,  viz.,  that  man  is  an  ac- 
countable being,  and  that  there  must  be  a  future  life  to 
furnish  an  opportunity  for  a  retribution,  they  inferred  it 
from  the  doctrine  which  they  universally  received,  of  the 
soul's  pre-existence  ;  and  some  of  them  from  the  equally 
absurd  doctrine  that  the  soul  is  a  portion  of  the  divine 
essence.  Not  one  of  them  all,  so  far  as  it  appears,  had 
ever  dreamed  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  and  hence, 
in  order  to  get  over  the  difficulty  which  death  threw  in 
their  way,  they  were  obliged  to  maintain  that  the  body 
constitutes  no  part  of  the  man.  They  moreover  held 
the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  from  one  body 
to  another ; — a  doctrine  which  it  would  be  easy  enough 
to  receive  when  the  pre-existence  of  the  soul  was  once 
admitted  ;  for  if  they  could  beUeve  that  their  souls  had 
existed  before  they  animated  their  present  bodies,  they 
might  as  easily  believe  that,  when  they  had  left  these 
bodies,  they  would  pass  into  others.  But  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  this  scheme  furnished  no  rational  ground  for  a 


62  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

retribution ;  for  as  the  soul  is  supposed  to  have  no  recol- 
lection, in  each  succeeding  body,  of  any  previous  actions 
it  may  have  performed,  or  any  previous  events  which 
may  have  occurred  to  it,  so  it  could  not  be  said  in  any 
proper  sense  to  be  rewarded  or  punished  for  that  of  which 
it  had  no  consciousness.  And  to  crown  all,  the  most 
strenuous  advocates  for  the  immortality  of  the  soul  did 
not  pretend  to  any  thing  like  certainty  respecting  it ;  and 
before  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  advent,  the  great  mass, 
especially  of  the  two  most  enlightened  nations  on  earth, 
had  discarded  it  altogether. 

It  is  the  glorious  prerogative  of  Christianity  that  she 
has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.  She  has 
cleared  away  the  thick  mists  of  philosophical  specula- 
tion which  had  been  gathering  around  this  doctrine  for 
ages.  She  assures  man  that  the  native  longings  of  his 
own  spirit  have  not  deceived  him.  The  darkness  that 
had  hung  over  the  tomb  for  centuries,  at  her  approach, 
flew  away ;  and  as  she  entered  its  iron  gates,  and  cast 
her  angelick  smile  around  upon  its  cold  and  slumbering 
tenants,  she  said  in  the  language  of  her  native  Heavens, 
'  Let  there  be  life ;'  and  in  the  resurrection  of  her  glorious 
Author,  she  has  given  the  pledge  that  ere  long  there  shall 
be  life,  and  even  that  most  dreaded  of  all  kings,  the 
king  of  terrours,  shall  go  into  an  ignominious  and  ever- 
lasting captivity. 

5.  Paganism  connects  marCs  acceptance  with  God 
with  a  course  of  devout  austerity^  or  of  self  inflicted 
torture :  Christianity  connects  it  with  living  faith  in 
the  atonement  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Paganism,  as  well  as  Christianity,  takes  for  granted 
that  man  is  a  sinner ;  and  in  every  part  of  her  ritual 
you  meet  with  something  designed  to  propitiate  an  of- 
fended deity.     Take,  for  instance,  the  Hindoo  religion 


WITH    PAGANISM.  53 

as  it  exists  at  the  present  day ;  and  you  will  find  that  a 
large  part  of  its  ceremonies  point,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  the  existence  of  human  guilt.  What  mean 
the  ablutions  in  the  Ganges  of  which  we  have  heard  so 
much,  if  they  do  not  indicate  the  conviction  that  there 
is  a  moral  stain  upon  the  soul  ?  What  mean  the  fre- 
quent and  laborious  acts  of  penance,  the  long  and  tedi- 
ous pilgrimages  voluntarily  undertaken  and  patiently 
prosecuted,  the  keenest  torture  which  nature  can  bear, 
self  inflicted  and  often  repeated,  if  it  be  not  all  designed 
to  propitiate  some  real  or  imaginar}^  being,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  controul  of  human  destiny?  Yes, 
my  friends,  in  all  these  ceremonies,  nature  is  acknow- 
ledging the  humiliating  fact  of  human  depravity ;  and 
these  are  the  means  which  Paganism  prescribes  for  ob- 
taining the  divine  forgiveness  and  restoring  the  soul  to 
its  purity. 

But  how  different  in  this  respect  is  our  blessed  Chris- 
tianity !  She  too  contemplates  human  guilt  in  all  its 
blackness :  She  sees  man  moving  onward  to  the  cham- 
bers of  everlasting  wo.  And  she  lifts  up  her  voice  and 
warns  him  of  his  ruin :  but  at  the  same  time  she  an- 
nounces to  him  that  his  case  is  not  desperate ;  that  sal- 
vation is  within  his  reach,  if  he  will  comply  with  the 
terms  on  which  it  is  offered.  But  she  imposes  on  him 
no  penance.  She  sends  him  on  no  pilgrimage.  She 
requires  not  a  single  drop  of  his  blood.  She  points 
him  away  to  Calvary ;  and  in  the  agonies  which  were 
there  endured  she  bids  him  contemplate  the  only  foun- 
dation of  hope  for  ruined  man.  She  repeats  that  gra- 
cious direction  and  assurance,  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  He  does  believe, 
and  he  has  the  witness  within  that  he  is  saved ;  for  the 
joys  of  a  good  hope  through  grace  are  already  springing 

5* 


54  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

up  in  his  bosom.  The  poor  Pagan  has  performed  his 
pilgrimages,  and  endured  his  tortures,  year  after  year, 
and  yet  the  nestUngs  of  guilt  disturb  hun  as  much  as 
ever ;  but  this  disciple  of  Christianity  has  no  sooner 
taken  from  her  his  first  lesson,  and  obeyed  her  first  di- 
rection, than  his  conscience  has  ceased  its  tormenting 
work,  and  the  future  has  opened  upon  him  in  the  bright- 
ness of  an  unclouded  day. 

II.  The  second  point  of  contrast  between  the  two  sys- 
tems relates  to  the  worship  which  they  respectively 
enjoin.  And  this,  of  course,  must  derive  its  complexion. 
in  a  great  degree,  from  the  character  of  the  objects  to 
which  it  is  directed. 

1.  The  worship  which  Paganism  prescribes  is  a  mere 
matter  of  external  ceremony :  that  which  Christianity 
requires  is  intelligent  and  spiritual. 

In  the  worship  enjoined  by  Paganism  there  is  not  one 
of  all  the  elements  of  an  enlightened  devotion.  There 
is  no  reverent  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  perfections ; 
no  penitent  confession  of  guilt ;  no  expression  of  grati- 
tude for  mercies  ;  no  devout  supplication  that  any  wants 
may  be  supplied,  or  any  sins  may  be  forgiven.  On  the 
contrary,  (I  here  speak  more  particularly  of  the  Hindoo 
worship,)  it  consists  in  fixing  the  eye  intensely  upon  the 
idol,  in  indistinctly  muttering  a  few  words,  in  saluting 
the  image  by  bringing  both  hands  to  the  forehead,  and 
then  slowly  and  solemnly  bowing  the  head.  In  other 
cases,  it  consists  in  bowing  to  the  very  feet  of  the  god- 
dess, and  then  walking  around  her  with  other  worship- 
pers in  a  continual  and  unbroken  circle.  In  other  cases 
still,  it  consists  in  throwing  upon  the  image  little  oflfer- 
ings  of  rice  and  flowers.  I  need  not  say  that  I  have 
alluded  here  only  to  the  more  decent  rites  of  the  Hindoo 
worship  :  but  even  in  respect  to  these,  you  cannot  fail  to 


WITH    PAGANISM.  55 

perceive  that  there  is  nothing  to  call  into  exercise  the 
understanding.  The  gods  whom  they  worship  are  ma- 
terial ;  and  the  homage  which  they  render  is  worthy  of 
the  objects  to  which  it  is  directed. 

In  the  worship  which  Christianity  prescribes,  the  soul 
is  principally,  and  in  a  sense  solely,  concerned ;  for  bo- 
dily postures  are  unimportant,  except  as  they  have  an 
influence  upon  the  inner  man.  The  Christian  in  his 
devotions  holds  communion  with  a  Being  of  infinite  in- 
telligence ;  and  surely  in  such  an  exercise  there  is  reason 
enough  why  his  own  intellect  should  be  kept  wakeful 
and  vigorous.  And  then  again,  in  every  act  of  worship 
he  performs, — whether  he  adores  the  divine  perfections, 
or  deprecates  the  divine  wrath ;  whether  he  renders 
thanksgiving  in  view  of  the  past,  or  offers  supplication 
in  reference  to  the  future,  it  is  a  deeply  spiritual  exercise 
in  which  he  is  engaged ;  and  if  the  spirit  is  not  in  it, 
he  stands  chargeable  before  God  with  base  hypocrisy, 
The  god  whom  the  Pagan  worships,  is  an  imaginary 
being  of  limited  attributes,  who  is  supposed  to  have  his 
residence  in  an  image  of  clay :  the  Christian's  God  is 
an  infinite  Spirit,  who,  though  he  condescends  to  dwell 
in  temples  made  with  hands,  fills  immensity  with  his 
presence.  The  Pagan  may  well  enough  satisfy  himself 
with  offering  to  his  god  the  mere  homage  of  the  lips,  or 
the  hands,  or  the  body ;  but  the  Christian  can  never 
think  of  approaching  Jehovah  with  any  other  than  an 
intelhgent  offering.  The  Pagan  cannot  perfoim  his 
worship  without  standing  before  his  idol :  the  Christian 
may  perform  his.  standing  any  where  in  the  universe. 

2.  The  worship  which  Paganism  prescribes  is  grossly 
absurd :  that  which  Christianity  requires  is  a  i^easono- 
hle  service. 


56  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

The  former  stands  chargeable  with  absurdity  in  re- 
spect to  the  objects  to  which  it  is  directed.  For  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  dictates  of  right  reason  to  worship  any  be- 
ing, even  the  most  intelHgent  and  the  most  pure,  who  is 
not  possessed  of  infinite  perfection.  If  it  were  the  high- 
est angel  in  Heaven  before  whom  the  Pagan  was  accus- 
tomed to  bow  in  acts  of  rehgious  homage,  reason  would 
rebuke  him  for  the  idolatry ;  because  the  highest  angel 
is  not  possessed  of  attributes  which  entitle  him  to  such 
homage ;  and  besides,  he  can  do  nothing  for  man  but 
what  it  is  given  him  to  do  by  the  Being  to  whom  angels 
and  men  alike  owe  their  existence ;  and  more  than  all, 
no  intimation  has  ever  come  from  above,  none  has  ever 
been  given  by  well  directed  reason,  that  an  angel  in 
Heaven  could  hear  the  supplications  which  might  go  up 
from  the  earth.  But  if  it  were  absurd  to  worship  even 
an  angel,  how  much  more  absurd  to  render  religious  ho- 
mage to  a  piece  of  senseless  clay,  moulded  into  any  form 
which  human  fancy  or  human  folly  may  dictate  !  Can 
a  piece  of  clay  be  mov  ed  to  compassion  by  any  rehgious 
rites  with  which  I  may  approach  it  ?  Can  a  piece  of 
clay  just  like  that  which  I  walk  upon  from  day  to  day, 
answer  my  request,  or  help  me  when  I  am  in  trouble? 
But  the  Pagan  tells  me  that  it  is  not  the  image  that  he 
worships ;  that  that  is  only  the  residence  of  an  invisible 
deity ;  and  that  the  dwelling  does  not  become  divinely 
inhabited  till  the  idol  is  consecrated  ?  I  answer,  it  is  an 
outrage  upon  reason  to  suppose  that  man  should  have 
the  power  of  attracting  any  invisible  being,  especially  to 
so  uninviting  a  residence,  by  going  through  with  an  un- 
meaning and  ridiculous  ceremony.  I  answer,  yet  again, 
it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  any  such  invisible  deities  ex- 
ist ;  and  if  it  were  admitted  that  they  do,  it  would  still 
be  absurd  to  invoke  their  aid  in  any  thing ;  for  not  one 


WITH    PAGANISM.  57 

of  them  is  supposed,  even  by  the  heathen  themselves, 
to  be  omniscient  or  ahnighty ;  and  many  of  them  pos- 
sess a  character  the  most  mahgnant  and  abominable. 

But  laying  out  of  view  the  character  of  the  gods,  the 
worship  itself  is  a  mere  tissue  of  absurdity.  I  have  al- 
ready shown  3^ou  that  the  intellect  is  completely  divorced 
from  it ;  that  even,  in  its  least  revolting  forms,  it  consists 
of  ceremonies  which  would  not  be  worthy  to  furnish 
sport  for  children.  And  is  that  Power  which  controuls 
my  destiny  to  be  worshipped  by  looking  intensely  at  an 
image ;  by  bowing  before  it,  or  walking  around  it,  or 
covering  it  with  flowers  ?  The  maniac's  dream  could 
not  be  more  preposterous  or  revolting  than  such  a  sup- 
position. 

But  in  the  worship  which  Christianity  enjoins,  every 
thing  is  in  accordance  with  the  purest  dictates  of  reason, 
The  object  of  worship  which  she  presents,  though  infi- 
nitely above  the  comprehension  of  reason,  is  yet  just 
such  a  Being  as  reason  sees  to  be  worthy  of  man's  high- 
est homage.  And  as  to  the  worship  itself — can  any 
thing  be  more  reasonable  ?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  adore 
an  infinitely  perfect  Being  ?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  oflfer 
thanksgiving  to  an  all  gracious  Benefactor?  Is  it  not 
reasonable  to  offer  confessions,  if  we  know  we  have  of- 
fended him  ?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  offer  supplications, 
if  we  know  we  are  dependant  upon  him  ?  Is  it  not  rea- 
sonable to  worship  him  in  simphcity,  if  he  is  a  heart 
searching  God?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  worship  him  in 
temples  made  with  hands,  if  he  holds  his  pecuhar  resi- 
dence there  ?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  worship  him  any 
where,  if  his  presence  fills  immensity  ?  If  it  be  so,  then, 
I  say  again,  the  worship  which  Christianity  prescribes  is 
a  reasonable  service. 


58  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

3.  The  worship  which  Paganism  prescribes  brings 
into  exercise  the  ivorst  affections  of  the  heart:  that 
which  Christianity  requires  appeals  directly  to  its  best 
affections. 

I  was  about  to  ask  you  here  to  excuse  me  for  not  de- 
scending to  particulars ;  but  I  might  perhaps  more  rea- 
sonably ask  you  to  excuse  me  if  I  should ;  not  only  be- 
cause I  should  thereby  be  carried  much  farther  than  1 
could  hope  your  patience  would  accompany  me,  but  be- 
cause I  should  be  carried  into  a  field  which  it  would  be 
any  thing  else  than  grateful  to  us  to  explore.  I  shall 
dismiss  this  topic  therefore  with  a  remark  or  two.  I  will 
only  say  that,  wherever  idolatry  has  prevailed,  the  ob- 
jects of  worship  have  always  been,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  sensual  or  sanguinary ;  and  the  rites  with  which 
they  have  been  worshipped  have  been  adapted  to  their 
character ; — rites  which  have  caused  the  altars  to  smoke 
with  human  blood,  or  w^hich  have  caused  Purity,  even 
Decency,  to  retire  and  weep.  And  is  it  possible,  think 
you,  for  man  to  commune,  even  in  imagination,  with 
such  gods  as  these,  and  through  the  medium  of  such 
rites  as  these,  without  having  the  most  unhallowed,  the 
most  malignant,  passions  wakened  into  exercise  ?  Is  it 
possible  to  sacrifice  to  a  being  whose  delight  is  supposed 
to  be  in  human  blood,  without  becoming  cruel ;  or  to  a 
being  who  has  his  element  in  the  very  filth  of  sensuali- 
ty, without  becoming  impure  ? 

I  turn  to  Christianity,  and  here  I  find  a  Being,  every 
attribute  of  whose  character  appeals  to  my  best  affec- 
tions. Here  is  infinite  power  to  protect,  infinite  wisdom 
to  guide,  infinite  love,  and  condescension,  and  faithful- 
ness, to  save ; — every  thing  to  awaken  reverence,  con- 
fidence, gratitude  and  love.  And  the  rites  of  Christian 
worship — how  simple,  how  touching,  how  sublime ! — 


WITH    PAGANISM.  59 

Take,  for  instance,  the  ordinance  of  the  Supper ;  and  see 
how  it  is  fitted  to  dissolve  the  heart  in  thankfulness,  to 
elevate  it  in  adoration,  to  inspire  it  with  benevolence,  as 
it  feels  itself  sweetly  attracted — I  had  almost  said  di- 
vinely enchained,  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  And  I  may 
appeal  to  every  true  disciple  for  evidence  that  every  act 
of  sincere  worship  which  he  performs  contributes  to  the 
exercise  and  the  growth  of  his  best  affections.  It  lessens 
his  attachment  to  what  is  earthly  and  grovelling,  and 
strengthens  his  aspirations  for  the  pure  and  exalted  joys 
of  Heaven. 

III.  It  only  remains,  in  the  third  place,  to  contem- 
plate the  contrast  between  the  two  systems,  in  regard  to 
the  MORALITY  which  they  respectively  produce. 

1.  Paganism  furnishes  7io  adequate  ride  of  morals : 
Christianity  prescribes  one  that  is  dear^  certain^  autho- 
ritative. 

A  complete  rule  of  morals  must  include  the  whole 
range  of  human  duty; — the  duties  which  we  owe  to 
God,  to  our  fellow  men,  and  to  ourselves.  Now  if  Pa- 
ganism has  prescribed  any  such  rule,  doubtless  we  are 
to  look  for  it,  either  in  her  religious  precepts,  in  her  civil 
laws,  or  in  the  instructions  of  her  philosophers.  But  do 
we  find  it  in  the  precepts  of  her  religion  ?  Surely  not : 
for  her  religion  had  no  respect  to  morality ;  nor  was  it 
any  part  of  the  office  of  her  priests  to  inculcate  lessons 
of  virtue.  Do  we  find  it  in  her  code  of  civil  laws? 
Certainly  not ;  for  though  many  of  her  laws  evince  great 
wisdom,  and  were  happily  adapted  to  the  end  they  were 
designed  to  answer,  yet  they  did  not  even  pretend  to 
reach  beyond  the  external  conduct ;  and  besides,  many 
of  them  were  at  war  with  the  first  principles  of  morality, 
and  justified  practices  which  Nature  views  with  shud- 
dering.    Witness  the  celebrated  law  of  Romulus,  which 


60  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

was  confirmed  by  a  constitution  of  the  twelve  tables, 
allowing  parents  to  destroy  all  their  female  children 
except  the  eldest;  and  even  their  male  children,  if 
they  happened  to  be  diseased  or  deformed.  But  if  nei- 
ther her  religious  precepts,  nor  her  civil  laws,  furnish 
any  thing  which  approximates  to  a  perfect  standard 
of  morality,  may  we  not  find  it  in  the  instructions  of 
her  philosophers?  Here  again,  the  answer  must  be  in 
the  negative ;  for  though  it  is  acknowledged  that  her 
philosophers  have  uttered  many  fine  moral  sentiments, 
and  were  doubtless,  in  this  respect,  of  important  use  at 
the  period  in  which  they  lived,  yet  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  extract  from  the  writings  of  all  of  them  combined, 
a  complete  system  of  moral  virtue.  They  were  wrong 
in  the  very  first  principles  of  morals,  and  recognised  no 
other  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice,  than  is  founded 
in  human  law  and  custom.  In  relation  to  the  duties 
which  they  owed  to  God,  their  notions  were  exceedingly 
contradictory  and  erroneous :  in  respect  to  the  duties 
which  they  owed  to  each  other,  they  were  miserably  lax, 
pleading  in  favour  of  revenge,  and  regarding  forgiveness 
of  injuries  as  a  weakness  ;  and  in  regard  to  self-govern- 
ment, they  either  allowed  a  complete  dominion  to  the 
sensual  appetites  and  passions,  or  at  least  required  less 
restraint  than  was  consistent  with  the  strictness  and  dig- 
nity of  virtue.  Even  the  Stoics,  who  were  undoubtedly 
the  most  eminent  teachers  of  morals  in  the  Pagan  world, 
held  a  scheme  which  was  fitted  to  lessen,  if  not  annihi- 
late, the  fear  of  God ;  to  root  out  the  kind  and  tender 
aflfections  of  human  nature,  and  to  encourage  that  most 
unnatural  of  all  crimes — self  murder. 

But  admitting  that  the  moral  systems  of  the  philoso- 
phers had  been  far  better  than  they  were, — admitting 
even  that  they  had  recognised  a  perfect  rule  of  duty, — 


WITH    PAGANISM.  61 

that  rule  would  still  have  lacked  what  would  have  been 
necessary  to  give  it  efficiency,— I  mean  adequate  sanc- 
tions. They  held  indeed  that  law  was  right  Reason ; 
but  Reason  without  a  higher  authority  cannot  enforce 
man's  obligation.  Some  of  them  talked  much  of  the 
beauty  and  excellence  of  virtue ;  but  what  power  would 
there  be  in  such  speculations  to  withstand  the  force  of 
unbridled  passion  ?  They  even  had  their  Elysian  fields 
and  their  Tartarean  gulf;  but  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments proposed  in  connexion  with  these  were  but  of 
temporary  duration;  and  after  all,  they  are  to  be  re- 
garded rather  as  the  dream  of  the  poets,  than  the  doc- 
trine of  the  philosophers.  I  say  then,  with  confidence, 
Paganism,  even  where  she  has  been  aided  by  the  high- 
est degree  of  intellectual  culture,  has  not  been  able  to 
propose  a  correct  standard  of  morals ;  and  even  that 
which  she  has  proposed,  has  been  without  any  adequate 
authority. 

Need  I  say  that  Christianity  does  supply  a  rule  of  mo- 
rals in  every  respect  adequate  to  the  necessity  of  the  case  1 
Man  needs  a  rule  which  shall  reach  beyond  the  external 
conduct  to  the  heart,  and  controul  its  most  secret  opera- 
tions. Christianity  furnishes  that  rule  in  the  law  of  God. 
Man  needs  a  rule  which  siiall  be  so  clear  that  he  can  ap- 
ply it  at  all  times,  and  on  the  most  sudden  emergencies. 
Here  again,  his  case  is  met  by  Christianity ;  for  while 
she  reveals  to  him  God's  law  in  its  most  simple  and  com- 
prehensive form;  she  furnishes  the  most  complete  com- 
ment on  that  law  in  the  instructions  and  example  of  the 
Saviour  of  the  world.  Indeed,  if  you  suppose  man  to 
be  in  a  wilderness  from  which  every  ray  of  light  is  ex- 
cluded in  respect  to  moral  duty,  you  have  only  to  put  the 
Bible  into  his  hands,  to  enable  him  to  walk  any  where 
with  confidence  and  safety. 

6 


62  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

2.  Paganism  corisecrates  iininorality  by  incorpora- 
ting it  with  her  religious  rites :  Christianity,  by  the 
purity  of  her  institutions^  frowns  upon  every  form  of 
immorality. 

It  were  well  if  Paganism  did  nothing  more  than  wink 
at  vice,  or  even  directly  sanction  it  by  the  doctrines  and 
precepts  of  her  philosophers ;  but  she  has  actually  incor- 
porated it  among  the  elements  of  her  existence,  so  that 
to  be  religious  upon  her  principles  is  nothing  less  than 
to  be  corrupt.  Religion  consists  in  obeying  what  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  will  of  the  gods.  But  it  is  supposed  to 
be  the  will  of  some  of  the  gods  that  they  should  be  served 
by  acts  of  the  grossest  pollution,  or  by  offerings  of  human 
blood.  Tell  me  then  how  the  obligations  of  religion  are 
here  to  be  met,  except  by  violating  some  of  the  first  laws 
of  morality.  And  so  it  is  that  Paganism  substitutes 
darkness  for  light,  vice  for  virtue ;  she  not  only  endea- 
vours to  annihilate  the  natural  sense  of  guilt  attendant 
on  crime,  but  she  actually  prescribes  immorality  as  an 
antidote  to  guilt ;  for  she  maintains  that  it  is  by  this 
means  that  the  favour  of  the  gods  is  to  be  secured. 
Think  of  a  man  outraging  the  first  laws  of  nature,  and 
not  only  calling,  but  believing,  it  rehgious  worship ;  and 
say  whether  the  system  of  which  this  is  a  part  must  not 
be  the  very  master  piece  of  human  corruption. 

Christianity  too  has  her  institutions,  but,  like  her  na- 
ture, they  are  pure ;  and  their  tendency  is  to  purify  all 
who  come  within  their  influence.  Is  there  not  that  in 
the  ordinary  rites  of  Christian  worship  which  seems  to 
bring  the  soul  into  an  atmosphere  of  moral  purity  ?  In 
drawing  reverently  near  to  the  throne  of  grace,  is  there 
not  something  which  is  fitted  to  rebuke  even  a  sinful 
thought,  and  to  give  the  spirit  an  upward  tendency?  Is 
not  the  dispensation  of  the  word  adapted  to  check  the 


WITH    PAGANISM.  63 

growth  of  sin,  to  promote  the  growth  of  hohness  ?  Does 
not  the  baptism  by  water  impressively  tell  of  the  need 
of  the  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost?  Do  not  the  cup 
which  we  bless,  and  the  bread  which  we  break,  in  the 
sacramental  supper,  warn  us  against  sin,  by  pointing  us 
to  the  sacrifice  which  has  been  made  for  its  expiation  ? 
In  one  word,  is  there  any  thing  in  the  rites  of  Christian 
worship  that  does  not  point  to  the  crucifixion  of  sin  ?  Is 
there  any  thing  in  the  rites  of  Pagan  worship  that  does 
not  point  to  the  indulgence  of  sin  ? 

3.  The  actual  results  of  Paganism  are  to  be  seen  in 
every  species  of  iniquity  and  crime  ;  while  ih^  fruits 
of  Christianity  appear  in  whatever  is  piire,  and  lovely^ 

and  hottest^  and  of  good  report. 

If  you  will  know  from  the  best  authority  what  was 
the  moral  condition  of  the  most  celebrated  Pagan  nations 
of  antiquity,  and  at  the  period  too  when  they  were  illu- 
mined by  the  brightest  blaze  of  intellectual  glory,  read 
the  chapter  from  which  my  text  is  taken ;  and  I  venture 
to  say  that  you  cannot  find  any  where  a  blacker  cata- 
logue of  vices  than  is  there  contained.  And  the  testi- 
mony of  Paul  on  this  subject  is  seconded  by  the  voice  of 
all  antiquity.  Shall  I  refer  you  to  the  brutal  cruelty 
which  both  the  Greeks  and  Romans  exercised  towards 
their  slaves ;  not  only  punishing  old  age  and  infirmity 
with  death,  but  with  death  in  some  of  its  most  horrid 
forms  ?  Shall  I  remind  you  of  the  gladiatorial  shows, 
which  attracted  immense  numbers  not  only  of  men  but 
women,  to  witness  death  as  a  mere  matter  of  amusement ; 
scenes  in  which  human  life  was  sacrificed  with  greater 
prodigality  than  even  in  war,  and  at  the  very  description 
of  which  the  blood  sets  back  with  horrour  ?  Shall  I  tell 
you  that  even  the  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome — 
the  very  men  whose  business  it  was  to  inculcate  lessons 


64  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

of  morality,  were  themselves,  to  a  great  extent,  examples 
of  flagrant  crime?  And  descending  from  ancient  to 
modern  times,  you  surely  need  not  be  told  that  Pagan- 
ism has  lost  none  of  her  disgusting  or  appaUing  features 
by  age.  To  say  nothing  of  the  abominable  practices 
which  still  exist  among  some  of  our  tribes  of  Indians, 
you  cannot  look  over  the  Eastern  nations,' but  your  eye 
will  affect  your  heart.  There  you  may  .see  fraud  and 
falsehood,  revenge  and  murder,  every  thing  base  and 
every  thing  cruel,  flourishing  with  a  deadly  luxuriance. 
There  you  may  see  the  helpless  infant  thrown  from  a 
mother's  arms  into  the  deep,  to  be  devoured  alive  by  the 
monsters  which  sport  there.  There  you  may  see,  or 
might  lately  have  seen,  the  widow  buming  on  the  fune- 
ral pile  of  her  husband,  the  fatal  fires  halving  been  kin- 
dled by  her  own  children.  There  you  may  see  the  aged 
father  forced  into  the  grave  while  the  breath  liis  not  yet 
left  him,  by  the  hand  of  an  inhuman  son.  Indeed,  you 
may  conceive  of  whatever  vice  or  crime  you  please,  and 
somewhere  in  the  dominions  of  Paganism,  you  will  find 
the  horrible  reahty. 

And  now  in  speaking  of  the  moral  effects  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  they  are  displayed  in  the  character  of  com- 
munities, I  am  aware  that  I  cannot  do  full  justice  to  her 
benign,  and  lovely,  and  regenerating  tendencies ;  for  this 
obvious  reason,  that  no  extensive  community  has  ever 
yet  existed  in  which  she  has  been  permiftted  to  exert,  to 
the  full  extent,  her  legitimate  influence..'  But  notwith- 
standing this,  I  am  sure  you  cannot  coilipare  the  moral 
condition  of  any  Christian  country,  especially  of  any 
Protestant  country,  with  that  of  the  m6st.,enhghtened 
Pagan  nation,  without  being  led  to  exclaim  that  a  great- 
er and  better  than  Paganism  is  here  !  What  but  Chris- 
tianity has  disarmed  man  of  an  unkindly  and  savage 


WITH    PAGANISM.  65 

spirit,  and  converted  his  bosom  into  a  dwelling  place  for 
the  amiable  and  generous  affections?  What  but  Chris- 
tianity has  meliorated  the  condition  of  slaves,  or  actually- 
abolished  slavery  ;  has  diminished  the  horrours  of  war ; 
has  elevated  the  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  condition 
of  the  female  sex ;  has  wakened  into  exercise  the  spirit 
of  benevolent  action,  and  diffused  over  the  whole  face 
of  society  the  soft  charities  of  domestic  life  ?  What  but 
Christianity  has  gone  out  in  pursuit  of  the  starving  or- 
phan and  provided  for  him  a  home ;  has  administered 
comfort  to  the  prisoner  in  his  dungeon,  has  given  a  crutch 
to  trembling  old  age,  and  caused  the  heart  of  the  sick 
and  destitute  widow  to  sing  for  joy  7  Whence  have  ori- 
ginated all  the  benevolent  institutions  of  modern  times, — 
the  infirmaries,  the  hospitals,  the  lazarettos,  which  he 
scattered  over  the  Christian  world  as  so  many  points  of 
glory,  but  in  the  purifying  and  elevating  influence  of 
our  blessed  religion  ?  I  bless  Christianity  that  she  has 
done  so  much ;  and  it  is  not  her  own  fault,  but  the  fault 
of  those  who  would  not  have  her  to  reign  over  them, 
that  she  has  not,  in  a  still  higher  degree,  changed  the 
wilderness  into  a  garden. 

In  review  of  our  subject,  we  remark, 

1.  How  dej)lorahle  is  the  condition  of  the  Pagan 
world ! 

They  have  perverted  every  fundamental  truth  of  re- 
ligion and  every  great  principle  of  morality.  Do  you 
ask  them  respecting  the  object  of  their  worship  ?  They 
point  you  to  their  idols,  upon  every  high  hill  and  under 
every  green  tree.  Do  you  inquire  concerning  the  na- 
ture of  their  worship  ?  They  answer  you  by  bidding 
you  look  at  altars  stained  with  human  blood.  Do  you 
ask  them  by  what  agency  the  world  is  governed  ?  They 
have  no  answer  to  give,  but  what  is  either  borrowed  di- 

6* 


66  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

rectly  from  Atheism,  or  at  best  built  upon  gross  absurdi- 
ty. Ask  you  concerning  their  standard  for  the  regula- 
tion of  human  conduct?  They  have  none  which  is 
not  as  variable  as  human  caprice  can  dictate ;  as  grovel- 
ling as  human  corruption  can  desire.  Do  you  question 
them  concerning  the  future?  Do  you  ask  whether  any 
light  breaks  from  their  system  of  religion  upon  the  tomb? 
Ah,  that  is  with  them  emphatically  a  region  of  darkness  ; 
for  even  their  philosophy  halts  at  the  question  whether 
there  is  any  passage  that  connects  the  tomb  with  a  world 
beyond  it.  I  ask  that  intelligent  Pagan,  that  philoso- 
pher if  you  please,  on  his  dying  bed,  what  are  the  pros- 
pects which  open  upon  him :  and  he  tells  me  that  his 
mind  is  bewildered  with  doubt  and  haunted  with  hor- 
rour ;  that  the  gods  whom  he  has  worshipped  are  not 
present  to  help  him  in  the  hour  of  his  extremity  ;  that 
he  must  plunge  into  the  future,  and  be  satisfied  with 
what  the  future  may  have  in  store  for  him. 

Methinks  I  hear  some  one  say,   'This  is  indeed  a 
wretched  condition  for  the  poor  Pagan  ;  but  then  death 
brings  him  out  of  it,  and  introduces  him  to  a  perfectly 
happy  existence.'      But  I  ask  you  upon  what  authority 
you  say  this  ?     Surely  not  upon  the  authority  of  Paul ; 
for  he  has  "  concluded  all  under  sin,"  and  has  declared 
that  "  the  wages  of  sin  is  death."     But  do  you  say  that  it 
were  an  unworthy  reflection  upon  God's  justice  to  suppose 
that  they  who  have  not  known  his  character  and  will, 
should  suffer  the  penalty  of  his  law?     I  reply,  God  is  a 
better  judge  of  what  is  right  and  just  than  we  are ;  and 
we  have  his  own  word  for  it  that  the  heathen  are  "  un- 
der sin,"  or  obnoxious  to  punishment.     I  answer  farther, 
that  this  objection  would   convert  the  gospel  into  the 
greatest  curse  that  was  ever  inflicted  upon  the  world ; 
for  if  those  who  have  no  revelation  are  not  guilty,  then 


WITH    PAGANISM.  67 

what  is  the  revelation  better  than  a  minister  of  condem- 
nation? I  reply  yet  again,  that  an  Apostle  has  pro- 
nounced the  ignorance  of  the  heathen  inexcusable  ;  not 
because  they  have  not  improved  light  which  they  never 
enjoyed,  but  because  they  have  abused  light  w4iich  they 
have  enjoyed  ;  because  they  have  not  seen  "  the  invisi- 
ble things"  of  God,  when  they  might  be  "  understood  by 
the  things  that  are  made."  Do  you  inquire  then  whe- 
ther I  mean  to  assert  that  all  who  live  and  die  in  Pagan 
darkness  are  lost  ?  I  answer,  by  no  means.  I  am  wil- 
ling to  hope  that  there  may  be  those,  even  where  no  ray 
of  evangelical  light  has  ever  fallen,  on  whom  the  Spirit 
may,  in  some  mysterious  way,  have  perforined  his  rege- 
nerating work.  But  in  respect  to  all  who  die  in  the  guilt 
and  pollution  of  Heathenism,  (and  they  who  have  so- 
journed in  Pagan  lands  will  tell  you  that  they  have 
known  few,  if  any,  who  have  not  evidently  belonged  to 
this  class,)  I  know  not  where  to  look  for  a  ray  of  hope ; 
and  in  coming  to  this  appalling  conclusion,  I  beg  you 
will  remember  that  it  is  not  I  v/ho  assert  it,  but  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

2.  Our  subject  teaches  us  that  there  is  no  reason  to 
hope  for  any  favourable  change  in  the  state  of  the 
heathen  world  from  the  efforts  of  unassisted  Reason. 

For  what  more,  I  ask,  could  Reason  do  to  enlighten 
and  reform  than  she  has  done  already  ?  If  her  efforts 
had  been  made  only  in  regions  which  were  overrun  with 
barbarism,  and  in  circumstances  in  which  her  energies 
could  not  be  fairly  tried ;  if,  for  instance,  it  had  been  left 
to  the  savages  of  our  Western  wilderness,  or  to  the  de- 
graded inhabitants  of  Otaheite,  to  undertake  the  great 
work  of  the  illumination  and  legeneration  of  the  world  ; 
there  might  still  be  some  reason  to  hope  that,  after  theij 
had  done  their  utmost,  some  intellectual  sun  might  yet 


68  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

rise  upon  the  world  with  heahng  in  his  beams  ; — some 
genius  might  break  forth,  of  nobler  capacities,  and  under 
more  favourable  circumstances,  than  any  which  had 
gone  before,  and  bring  light,  and  order,  and  purity,  out 
of  the  wild  chaos  of  Paganism.  But  surely  no  such  ex- 
pectation can  be  indulged  in  view  of  the  fact  that  genius 
and  philosophy  have  already  tasked  themselves  to  the 
utmost  to  perform  this  very  work,  and  yet  the  whole 
work  remains  to  be  done.  Testify  for  me,  ye  sages  of 
antiquity,  who  have  been  to  the  period  in  which  you 
hved,  like  a  few  solitary  stars  scattered  here  and  there 
about  the  heavens  in  a  dark  night ;  — testify  for  me,  So- 
crates and  Cicero,  Plato  and  Seneca,  that  ye  did  your 
utmost  to  bring  the  world  under  the  dominion  of  truth, 
but  that  it  still  remained  in  bondage  to  errour ;  nay, 
that  your  own  minds  were  bewildered  with  doubt,  and 
that  5^our  own  systems  had  in  them  more  of  beautiful 
speculation  than  of  regenerating  power !  And  if  the  ef- 
forts of  those  mighty  minds  whose  productions  have  ever 
been  the  admiration  of  the  world,  were  to  no  purpose,  is 
it  not  preposterous  to  expect  more  from  the  less  enligh- 
tened Pagans  of  the  present  day?  And  is  there  the  sha- 
dow of  reason  to  believe  that  the  heathen  world  will  have 
brighter  lights  of  its  own  to  shine  upon  it  hereafter,  than 
it  has  had  already?  Rely  on  it,  the  powers  of  Reason 
have  been  tested  most  thoroughly,  and  Reason  has  shown 
herself  a  blind  guide;  and  unless  a  Higher  Power  comes 
to  the  aid  of  the  Pagan  world,  they  must  grope  onward 
in  the  same  deep  darkness  which  has  hung  around  them 
for  ages. 

3.  The  subject  commends  to  our  sjwcial  regard  the 
cause  of  foreign  missions. 

For  in  this  cause,  you  perceive,  is  bound  up  the  only 
hope  of  the  Pagan  world.     All  experience  has  proved 


WITH    PAGANISM.  69 

that  it  is  by  the  gospel  only  they  can  be  enlightened  and 
reformed  ;  and  if  the  gospel  is  to  be  sent  to  them,  it  must 
be  by  human  means ;  and  it  is  to  provide  these  means, — 
in  other  words,  to  send  forth  men  with  the  words  of  eter- 
nal life  upon  their  lips,  and  the  charter  of  salvation  in  their 
hands,  into  the  wide  Avaste  of  Paganism,  that  constitutes 
the  great  object  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  enterprise. 
And  who  will  say  that  there  is  any  thing  in  this  that 
looks  chimerical  ?  There  is  nothing  more  chimerical  in 
it  than  there  is  in  providing  relief  for  the  orphan  who 
comes  half  starved  and  shivering  to  beg  at  your  door. 
But  do  you  say  that  the  orphan  stands  before  your  eyes, 
and  appeals  to  your  sensibihties  by  his  wretchedness 
and  his  tf^.^i-a  3  wheroao  the  heathen  are  most  of  them 
at  an  immense  distance  from  you,  and  have  not  even 
asked  the  aid  of  your  charity  ?  And  what  then  ?  Is 
not  their  condition  just  as  wretched,  are  not  their  pros- 
pects just  as  dismal,  as  if  they  were  in  the  midst  of  you  ? 
Nay,  is  it  not  one  of  the  circumstances  which  contribute 
to  the  wretchedness  of  their  condition,  that  they  are  so 
far  out  of  the  reach  of  ordinary  christian  influence,  that 
they  are  in  danger  of  living  and  dying  as  they  are,  with- 
out any  effort  being  made  to  enhghten  and  save  them  ? 
And  besides,  suppose  they  have  not  hfted  up  their  im- 
ploring voice  to  supplicate  your  aid,  what  else  does  this 
indicate  than  that  they  are  pleased  with  their  own 
wretched  and  fata]  delusions,  just  as  the  maniac  exults 
in  the  wild  fancies  of  delirium ;  and  I  ask  whether  this, 
instead  of  being  a  reason  for  doing  nothing  in  their  be- 
half, is  not  an  additional  reason  for  awaking  to  vigorous, 
benevolent  effort  ?  Do  I  hear  you  still  repeat  the  objec- 
tion that  they  are  too  far  off?  But  they  are  just  as  truly 
your  brethren,  as  if  you  and  they  were  living  in  the  bo- 
som of  the  same  society.     Yes,  though  they  have  a  dif- 


70  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

ferent  language,  and  have  been  educated  to  different  ha- 
bits, and  have  been  conversant  with  different  rehgious 
rites,  and  indeed  have  scarcely  any  thing  in  common 
with  you  but  human  nature,  still  they  and  you  belong  to 
the  same  great  family  ;  and  you  cannot  neglect  them  but 
at  the  expense  of  incurring  his  displeasure,  who  hath 
said,  ''Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them."  Put  thyself,  for  once,  in 
that  Pagan's  stead :  and  imagine  the  darkness  that 
rests  upon  his  prospects  to  rest  upon  thine,  and  the  de- 
basement and  wretchedness  which  enter  into  his  lot  to 
be  the  leading  elements  in  thine  own  ;  imagine  thyself 
educated  undor  Pagan  influences,  and  bound  with  the 
cords  of  Pagan  superstition,  and  looking  forward  with 
suspense  and  horrour  to  a  Pagan's  grave  ;  and  then  say 
what  ought  to  be  the  measure  of  thy  brother's  charity 
toward  thee ;  and  let  the  answer  which  conscience  dic- 
tates guide  thee  in  respect  to  thy  duty  towards  him.  1 
repeat,  he  is  thy  brother,  tliough  the  ocean  rolls  between 
him  and  thee ;  and  though  he  shall  never  meet  thee  on 
earth,  yet  if,  through  thy  neglect,  he  is  left  to  perish,  take 
heed  lest  he  should  meet  thee  in  the  judgment  as  thine 
accuser. 

Finally :  In  the  prevalence  of  Christianity  and  Pa- 
ganism on  the  earth,  we  may  contemplate  the  great 
conflict  which  is  going  forward  between  the  kingdom 
of  darkness  and  the  kingdom  of  light. 

This  world  is  yet,  to  a  great  extent,  the  theatre  of  the 
empire  of  darkness.  The  great  adversary  of  God  and 
man,  of  truth  and  righteousness,  has  estabhshed  his 
reign  here,  and  is  determined  to  hold  it  as  long  as  he 
can.  He  exercises  his  dominion  over  every  unsanctified 
heart.  But  it  is  in  the  territories  of  Paganism  that  he 
reigns  with  the  most  absolute  sway.     In  the  thick  dark- 


WITH    PAGANISM.  71 

ness  that  prevails  there  he  finds  his  pecuhar  element; 
for  he  is,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  prince  of  darkness. 
In  the  gross  depravity  that  prevails  there,  he  takes  a  ma- 
lignant pleasure ;  for  he  is  the  deadly  enemy  of  all  righ- 
teousness. On  the  bloody  altars  which  are  reared  there, 
on  the  idol  gods  which  abound  there,  on  the  supersti- 
tious rites  which  are  performed  there,  he  looks  and 
smiles  with  malignant  exultation.  And  he  is  jealous  of 
any  inroads  which  are  made  upon  his  dominion.  And 
yet  such  inroads  are  made,  and  will  continue  to  be  made, 
till  the  last  inch  of  his  territories  is  wrested  from  him. 
In  the  more  earnest  prayers  and  the  more  vigorous 
movements  of  the  friends  of  missions,  I  see  the  prepara- 
tion going  forward  for  a  more  desperate  onset  upon  this 
enemy  of  all  good ;  and  I  read  in  the  aspects  of  Provi- 
dence, as  well  as  in  the  word  of  God,  that  he  is  destined 
to  an  ignoble  and  entire  defeat.  Messiah,  with  all  his 
mighty  forces,  is  marching  up  to  encounter  him;  and 
as  sure  as  God's  testimony  can  be  rehed  on,  he  shall  ere 
long  lick  the  dust.  That  thick  darkness  shall  all  fly 
away.  Those  bloody  altars  shall  all  be  broken  down. 
Those  idol  gods  shall  become  the  property  of  the  moles 
and  the  bats.  Paganism  shall  have  abdicated  her  last 
throne;  shall  have  yielded  in  her  last  conflict;  shall 
have  felt  the  arm  of  her  power  wither,  and  the  blood  at 
her  heart  curdle ;  and  shall  not  be  able  to  find  a  place, 
even  in  the  caves  and  dens  of  the  earth,  which  she  can 
call  her  own. 

And  then,  ever  blessed  Christianity,  how  welcome 
will  be  thy  reign  among  the  nations  !  How  bright  wiU 
be  thy  glory,  as  it  will  serenely  lay  itself  upon  the  bosom 
of  the  world  !  How  lovely,  how  transporting,  how  end- 
lessly diversified,  will  be  the  forms  of  moral  exceflence, 
which  will  rise  every  where  under  thy  new  creating 


72  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED,    ETC. 

hand,  to  greet  the  regenerated  vision  of  man !  I  fasten 
my  eye  upon  thee,  and  anticipate  with  rapture  that  ju- 
bilee of  the  world.  Thou  hast  come  up  from  the  con- 
flict of  ages  amidst  the  songs  of  victory  !  Thou  hast  all 
the  nations  at  thy  feet  in  token  of  thy  gracious  triumph ! 
Let  inanimate  nature  become  vocal  to  welcome  thy  reign ! 
Let  rocks,  hills,  and  mountains,  welcome  thee !  Let 
oceans,  rivers,  and  forests,  welcome  thee !  Let  the  Hea- 
vens which  look  down  upon  us  in  their  glory,  welcome 
thee  !  Let  universal  nature  break  forth  in  one  thrilling 
and  rapturous  shout  of  triumph,  that  the  empire  of  hght, 
and  grace,  and  love,  has  become  universal ;  that  there 
was  no  darkness  so  deep  but  that  it  has  fled  away  before 
the  quickening  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  ! 


LECTURE  III. 


CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH  DEISM. 


Romans  i.   16. 
/  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

IN  CONNEXION  WITH 

John   vii.   12. 

Others  said,  nay;  but  he  deceiveth  the  people. 

When  our  blessed  Lord  came  to  his  own,  his  owii  re- 
ceived him  not.  Notwithstanding  he  spake  as  never 
man  spake,  and  performed  works  which  showed  that  he 
was  in  intimate  communion  with  Omnipotence,  the  great 
mass  of  his  countrymen  contrived  to  evade  the  evidence 
of  his  Messiahship ;  and  not  only  refiised  to  heed  his 
instructions  and  acknowledge  his  claims,  but  openly  ac- 
cused him  of  being  a  deceiver  of  the  people.  And  the 
same  spirit  which  was  manifested  towards  the  great 
Founder  of  our  Rehgion,  has  been  acted  out,  in  every 
succeeding  age,  towards  the  religion  he  came  to  esta- 
blish :  there  have  always  been  those  who  have  regarded 
Christianity  as  a  cunningly  devised  fable ;  who  have 
maintained  that  the  only  light  which  Heaven  ever 
vouchsafed  to  man  was  the  light  of  Reason ;  and  that 


74  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

every  thing  beyond  this  is  aUke  incredible  and  unneces- 
sary. While  they  profess  to  hold  certain  great  principles 
which  they  denominate  Natural  Religion,  but  which,  in 
many  instances,  are  only  a  wretched  perversion  of  it, 
their  zeal  is  chiefly  exhausted  in  a  warfare  against  Chris- 
tianity ;  as  if  she  were  not  only  the  declared  enemy  of 
the  Religion  of  Nature,  but  the  enemy  of  every  thing 
that  involves  the  happiness  of  man.  I  need  not  tell  you 
that  the  class  to  wdiich  I  here  refer  are  the  Deists.— 
Though  they  differ  not  a  httle  among  themselves,  some 
of  them  professedly  holding  the  truths  of  Natural  Religion 
in  a  good  degree  of  purity,  and  others  holding  doctrines 
which  verge  closely  upon  Atheism,  yet  the  mass  of  them 
would  agree  with  the  Jews  in  saying  of  our  blessed  Lord, 
that  he  is  a  deceiver  of  the  people ;  and  of  his  gospel, 
that  it  is  a  system  of  imposture. 

Lend  me  your  attention  then,  while  I  consider  the 
base  charge  of  the  Jews  against  our  Lord,  in  connexion 
with  the  triumphant  declaration  of  the  Apostle  respecting 
his  gospel,  as  suggesting  the  contrast  between  Deism 
and  Christianity.  We  will  contrast  the  two  systems  in 
respect  to 

I.    The  EXTENT  OF  THEfR  DISCOVERIES: 

IL  The  certainty  of  their  evidence  : 
in.  The  energy  of  their  oper,ations  : 
IV.  The  character  of  tpieir  results. 

I.  The  extent  of  their  discoveries. 
As  Deism  claims  that  human  Reason  is  a  sufficient 
guide  in  matters  of  religion,  it  is  fair  to  judge  of  the 
powers  of  Reason  by  what  she  has  actually  accomplished. 
And  that  we  may  ascertain  this,  we  must  look,  not  to 
those  systems  the  materials  of  which  Deists  have  pilfered, 
in  a  great  measure,  from  Christianity,  and  which  they 


WITH    DEISM.  75 

liave  proudly  held  forth  to  the  world  as  the  product  of 
human  Reason  ;  but  to  those  systems  which  have  been 
formed  where  Reason  has  been  left  to  do  her  work  alone. 
You  remember  the  results  to  which  we  were  brought  in 
our  last  discourse,  in  respect  to  the  most  enlightened 
Pagan  nations  of  antiquity :  we  saw  how  the  greatest 
minds  were  bewildered  in  respect  to  the  very  first  truths 
of  religion  ; — how  Socrates  and  Cicero,  Plato  and  Sene- 
ca, with  all  their  intellectual  greatness,  were  mere  babes 
in  religious  knowledge ;  how  the  doctrines  of  man's  ac- 
countableness  and  man's  immortahty,  of  the  divine  Pro- 
vidence and  even  of  the  divine  existence,  if  not  actually 
lost  sight  of,  were,  in  a  great  degree,  obscured  and  neu- 
tralized by  a  cumbrous  mass  of  errour  and  absurdity. 
Now  I  say  that  all  that  the  Deist  can  legitimately 
claim  for  human  Reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  records  of 
Pagan  philosophy  ;  for  while  Reason  was  here  cast  en- 
tirely upon  her  own  resources,  she  tasked  her  energies  to 
the  utmost,  and  what  she  did  not  accomphsh  then,  we 
have  no  reason  to  believe  that  she  could  accomplish,  un- 
aided, in  any  circumstances.  I  know  indeed  that  there 
are  systems  of  religious  doctrine  which  she  claims  as  her 
own,  which,  so  far  as  they  go,  are  in  accordance  with 
divine  truth  ;  but  she  has  here  committed  a  plagiarism 
upon  the  Bible :  she  has  sat  down  with  God's  written 
Revelation  spread  out  before  her,  and  has  gathered  from 
it  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion,  and 
incorporated  them  into  a  system,  and  then  has  exclaimed 
with  equal  complacency  and  injustice,  "  Behold,  in  the 
result  of  77iy  efforts,  evidence  that  a  Revelation  from 
Heaven  is  unnecessary !" 

But  while  I  maintain  that  it  is  fair  to  judge  of  the 
powers  of  Reason  by  what  she  has  actually  accom- 
plished, I  am  well  aware  that  a  distinction  is  to  be  made 


76 


CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 


between  what  she  can  do,  darkened  and  misguided  as 
she  is  through  the  influence  of  depravity,  and  what  she 
might  do,  if  the  legitimate  operation  of  her  faculties 
were  not,  in  any  degree,  counteracted.  Suppose,  then, 
Reason,  in  her  uncorrupted  state,  were  to  address  herself 
to  the  business  of  religious  inquiry, — how  far  may  we 
suppose  she  could  proceed  with  confidence  and  certainty  ; 
and  at  what  point  would  her  powers  begin  to  falter?  It 
would  be  fairly  within  her  province  to  decide  that  there 
is  an  intelligent  First  Cause  of  all  things ;  that  this  Be- 
ing is  omniscient,  omnipresent,  independent,  almighty 
and  eternal.  So  too  she  might  legitimately  arrive  at  a 
knowledge  of  his  goodness ;  for  the  evidences  of  this 
beam  upon  us  from  every  part  of  the  creation.  She 
might  also  read  in  the  very  constitution  of  our  nature, 
and  especially  in  the  operations  of  natural  conscience, 
some  intimation  of  divine  justice  and  hohness ;  though 
her  conclusions  on  this  point  could  hardly  fail  to  be  em- 
barrassed by  the  apparently  universal  reign  of  depravity. 
She  might  infer  from  the  perfections  of  God  that  he  ex- 
ercises a  Providence ;  though  her  views  of  the  nature  of 
that  Providence,  especially  as  concerned  in  directing  the 
destiny  of  the  righteous,  must,  at  best,  be  indistinct;  be- 
cause she  knows  nothing  of  God's  covenant  faithfulness 
to  his  people.  The  operations  of  man's  moral  nature 
very  readily  suggest  the  idea  of  a  retribution ;  and  as  it 
is  evident  that  nothing  hke  an  exact  retribution  takes 
place  in  this  world,  the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  there 
must  be  a  future  existence  to  furnish  an  opportunity  for 
it.  But  though  Reason  might  decide  that  the  human 
spirit  would  survive  in  some  other  state  of  being,  as  the 
subject  of  a  retribution,  she  could  not  decide  that  its  ex- 
istence would  be  immortal ;  for  this  best  of  all  reasons, 
that  she  could  never  know  what  was  the  will  of  him  on 


WITH    DEISM.  J'Y 

whom  its  existence  depends,  unless  he  were  pleased  to 
reveal  it.  Beyond  this  point,  Reason,  even  uncorrupted 
Reason,  must  have  been  a  blind  guide.  There  were 
questions  of  the  most  vital  importance  to  man,  upon 
which  she  could  do  nothing  better  than  dream.  Espe- 
cially to  that  most  momentous  of  all  questions,  "  How 
can  man  be  just  with  his  Maker ;" — she  must  have  been 
absolutely  dumb ;  or  if  she  had  opened  her  lips,  it  must 
have  been  only  to  confess  her  ignorance. 

Thus  you  see  that  Deism,  allowing  her  all  that  she 
could  claim  under  any  possible  circumstances,  shuts  us 
up  in  a  field  of  comparatively  narrow  dimensions. — 
Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  brings  us  into  a  field  of 
vast  extent ;  and,  as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  permits 
us  to  see  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  present  infantile 
state  of  our  faculties.     That  man  has  violated  the  law 
of  his  nature,  in  other  words  is  a  sinner,  is  a  matter  that 
comes  within  the  range  of  every  one's  consciousness ; 
but  how  much  is  included  in  being  a  sinner,  it  has  been 
left  for  Christianity  alone  clearly  to  reveal.     And  this 
she  has  revealed,  inasmuch  as  she  has  exhibited  the  di- 
vine law  in  all  the  perfection  of  its  requiiements  and  in 
all  the  fearfulness  of  its  sanctions ;  and  has  described 
the  future  retribution  of  the  wicked  as  a  scene  of  com- 
plete, undying,  unutterable  anguish.     And  here  she  dis- 
closes a  new  and  sublime  economy  ; — the  economy  of 
redemption.     Contemplating  man  in  his  ruin,  she  meets 
him  with  tidings  of  deUverance.     As  he  is  guilty  and 
needs  an  atoning  Saviour,  as  ha  is  polluted  and  needs  an 
Almighty  Sanctifier,  she  reveals  new  relations  in  the  God- 
head corresponding  with  the  exigences  of  his  condition. 
She  exhibits  Jesus  Christ  as  mighty  to  atone ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  all  powerful  to  sanctify ;  and  even  into  the  en- 
deared name  of  the  Father  she  throws  additional  inte- 

7* 


78  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

rest  and  tenderness,  by  exliibiting  him  in  the  mild  ma- 
jesty of  a  reconciled  Father  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  She  shows  us  how  the  honours  of  the  law  have 
been  vindicated  and  illustrated  by  the  Redeemer's  death ; 
how  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  the  atonement 
of  Christ  may  take  the  place,  as  a  condition  of  eternal  hfe, 
of  that  perfect  obedience  which  the  law  requires  ;  how, 
under  the  mediatorial  dispensation,  man  may  not  only 
be  restored  to  the  divine  favour,  but  may  ultimately  rise 
higher  in  the  scale  of  happiness  than  if  he  had  never 
stood  in  need  of  pardoning  mercy.  She  assures  us,  not 
only  that  man  shall  exist  in  a  future  world,  and  exist 
forever,  but  that  the  union  between  body  and  spirit  shall 
be  restored,  so  that  the  elements  of  his  original  constitu- 
tion shall  not  be  ultimately  disturbed.  So  far  as  is  im- 
portant for  all  practical  purposes,  she  lifts  the  vail  that 
hides  the  future,  disclosing,  on  the  one  hand,  the  world 
of  glory  ;  on  the  other,  the  world  of  wo.  Am  I  not  right 
then  in  saying  that  there  is  a  mighty  contrast  between 
Deism  and  Christianity  in  respect  to  the  extent  of  then 
discoveries  ?     But  this  contrast  is  equally  manifest  in 

II.    The    CERTAINTY  OF  THEIR  EVIDENCE. 

1.  Tiei^ui  ^^^Qd\s  io  ahst7'act  reasoning  :  Christian 
ity,  to  tangible  facts. 

To  show  how  little  the  deductions  of  Reason  are  to  be 
rehed  on  in  connexion  with  this  subject,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  advert  to  the  various  and  contradictory  conclu- 
sions to  which  Deists  themselves  have  arrived  in  respect 
to  the  question,  what  constitutes  the  Religion  of  Nature 
Some  of  them  have  acknowledged  the  moral  perfections 
of  God :  others  have  denied  them  altogether.  Some 
have  recognised  an  essential  difference  between  virtue 
and  vice;  others  have  maintained  that  tlie  only  distinc 
tion  between  them  has  its  origin  in  human  law  or  cus 


WITH    DEISM.  79 

torn.  Some  have  professed  their  belief  in  the  soul's  im- 
mortality ;  others  have  strenuously  contended  that  the 
soul  is  annihilated  in  death.  All  these  agree  that  Rea- 
son is  a  sufficient  guide ;  and  yet  she  guides  them  to  di- 
rectly opposite  conclusions.  And  if  Reason  can  do  no 
better  than  this  where  she  is  highly  cultivated,  and  sur- 
rounds herself  with  the  honours  of  philosophy,  what  can 
she  do  when  she  happens  to  have  her  dwelling  in  the 
bosom  of  the  untutored  peasant,  or  where  her  faculties 
have  scarcely  ever  been  exercised  but  upon  material  ob- 
jects ?  If  Herbert  and  Hobbes,  Hume  and  Bolingbroke, 
could  not  reason  out  a  system  of  religion  which  bore  the 
impress  of  uniformity  or  consistency ;  can  we  expect  any 
thing  more, — rather  ought  we  not  to  expect  much  less, 
from  the  great  mass  of  the  world,  whose  capacities  are 
generally  greatly  inferior,  and  whose  time  is  chiefly  and 
necessarily  occupied  by  other  matters  ?  And  is  it  not  true 
that  very  few  uncultivated  Deists  ever  think  of  doing 
any  thing  more  than  collecting  and  retailing  the  dogmas 
af  the  master  spirits  of  the  school ;  and  that,  however 
they  may  contend  for  the  sufficiency  of  Reason  in  mat- 
ters of  religion,  they  are  satisfied  to  make  very  little  use 
of  their  own  Reason  ?  I  say  then,  if  facts  furnish  any 
just  ground  for  an  argument,  the  deductions  of  unassist- 
ed Reason  are  to  be  received  with  great  caution  ;  and  as 
Deism  places  her  sole  reliance  here,  her  evidence  is  pro- 
portionably  feeble  and  unsatisfactory. 

Christianity  founds  her  claims  upon  palpable  facts. 
She  does  indeed,  in  several  ways,  appeal  to  Reason  ;  and 
always  with  triumphant  success ;  but  the  office  which 
she  prescribes  to  her  is  that  of  considering  and  estimating 
facts,  rather  than  framing  theories  and  settling  principles 
When  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was  introduced,  God  com- 
missioned Moses  to  perform  a  series  of  the  most  stupen- 


80  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

dous  miracles ;  as  evidence,  not  only  to  the  people  of 
Israel,  but  to  the  surrounding  nations,  that  the  rehgion 
which  was  thus  proclaimed  was  from  above.  When 
Jesus  introduced  the  new  dispensation,  he  too  authenti- 
cated his  heavenly  commission  by  performing  works 
which,  at  least,  proved  that  the  hand  of  God  was  with 
him  ;  and  which  it  were  utterly  impossible  that  an 
impostor  could  successfully  counterfeit.  And  these  deeds 
of  power  and  mercy  were  performed  in  the  light  of 
day,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  competent  number  of 
witnesses,  and  were  frequently  repeated  during  a  pe- 
riod of  several  years.  And  after  our  Lord's  personal 
ministry  had  closed,  he  commissioned  his  Apostles  to 
go  forth  preaching  the  same  gospel  which  he  had 
preached,  and  endued  them  with  power  to  prove  the  di- 
vinity of  their  mission  by  performing  substantially  the 
same  wonderful  works  which  he  had  performed ;  and 
in  accordance  with  this  injunction,  and  under  these  mi- 
raculous endowments,  they  went  forth  promulgating  the 
great  truths  of  Christianity,  and  enforcing  them  by  the 
exhibition  of  a  super-human  energy.  These  miraculous 
gifts  have  indeed  long  since  ceased  from  the  church ; 
but  they  were  continued  long  enough  to  answer  the  end 
tor  which  they  were  bestowed, — the  establishment  of 
Christianity :  and  not  only  an  authentick  but  inspired  re- 
cord of  them  has  been  preserved ;  so  that  we  may  ap- 
peal to  this  record  of  the  miracles  with  as  much  confi- 
dence as  the  early  Christians  could  appeal  to  the  mira- 
cles themselves. 

I  may  mention  also  the  evidence  derived  from  projyhe- 
cy^  as  not  only  partaking,  in  a  great  degree,  of  the  same 
palpable  character  with  that  which  I  have  just  consi- 
dered, but  as  constantly  gathering  strength  from  the 
lapse  of  ages.     There  are  prophecies  in  existence  de- 


i 


WITH    DEISM.  81 

signed  to  authenticate  Christianity,  which  were  dehvered 
several  thousand  years  ago,  some  of  which  have  already 
received  a  complete  fulfilmentj  the  record  of  which 
is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  while  others 
are  gradually  fulfilling  in  events  that  are  passing  before 
our  eyes.  It  is  indeed  an  easy  matter  to  turn  away  from 
this  branch  of  the  evidence,  and  not  come  to  the  hght 
which  it  affords ;  and  yet  it  is  evidence  of  the  most  con- 
clusive kind,  and  which  it  is  fairly  within  the  province 
of  any  mind  to  appreciate.  If  it  be  admitted,  as  no 
doubt  it  must  be,  that  the  evidence  from  miracles  is 
somewhat  less  impressive  now  than  it  was  at  the  time 
they  were  wrought,  yet  the  opposite  of  this  is  true  of  pro- 
phecy ;  for  each  succeeding  age,  and  each  succeeding 
year,  furnishes  materials  for  a  history  which  is  a  striking, 
and  in  many  instances  a  hteral,  counterpart  to  scriptural 
predictions.  If  the  whole  future  is  spread  out  only  be- 
fore the  omniscient  mind,  then  he  who  predicts  with 
perfect  accuracy  a  long  train  of  events  which  at  the  time 
seem  most  improbable,  ages  before  the  period  of  their 
occurrence,  gives  the  highest  possible  evidence  to  those 
who  have  an  opportunity  of  comparing  the  predictions 
with  the  events,  that  he  has  been  counselled  from  above ; 
and  the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  that  system  of  reli- 
gion with  which  such  prophecies  are  connected,  bears 
the  stamp  of  truth  and  divinity. 

I  must  not  omit  to  say  in  this  connexion  that,  while 
Christianity  appeals  to  higher  evidence  than  Deism  for 
her  own  peculiar  truths,  she  places  Natural  Religion 
in  a  much  brighter  hght  than  the  best  efforts  of  Reason 
have  ever  been  able  to  shed  around  her.  While  she 
takes  certain  great  and  essential  truths  for  granted,  as 
the  basis  on  which  she  erects  her  superstructure,  she  dis- 
entangles each  of  those  truths  from  the  mazes  of  errour 


82 


CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 


into  which  they  had  been  thrown,  and  presents  them 
clothed  with  new  beauty  and  surrounded  with  clearer 
evidence.  I  am  aware  that  an  objection  may  be  raised 
on  philosophical  grounds  against  admitting  miracles  as 
an  evidence  of  Natural  Religion ;  and  yet  I  appeal  to 
you  whether,  if  an  individual  were  to  come  among  us 
preaching  Natural  Religion  and  nothing  more,  and  were 
to  authenticate  his  mission  by  performing  works  which 
manifestly  involved  a  suspension  of  the  laws  of  nature, — 
I  ask  you  whether  common  sense  would  not  acknow- 
ledge his  authority,  even  though  philosophy  might  choose 
to  dispute  it?  Suppose  an  individual  were  predisposed 
to  believe  the  truths  of  Natural  Religion,  and  yet  had 
not  been  able  fully  to  satisfy  himself  concerning  them, 
and  the  Christian  Revelation  containing  a  republication 
of  these  truths  were  to  be  put  into  his  hands,  do  you  not 
believe  that  this  would  contribute  greatly  to  resolve  his 
doubts  and  to  establish  his  faith  ?  Is  it  not  more  than 
probable  that  he  would  henceforth  receive  these  doctrines 
with  an  unhesitating  and  confident  conviction  ? 

2.  Deism  makes  no  pretension  to  any  authoritative 
publication  of  her  doctrines ;  Christianity  claims  that 
her  truths  are  embodied  in  a  perspicuous,  j^ei^^^ianent, 
inspired  record. 

Ask  the  Deist  where  his  system  is  to  be  found,  and  he 
will  tell  you  with  an  air  of  triumph  that  it  is  inscribed 
on  the  very  elements  of  man's  nature ;  and  yet,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  there  are  scarcely  two  individuals 
who  interpret  this  record  in  the  same  manner.  At  any 
rate,  it  is  something  which  lies  too  much  in  the  region 
of  doubt  and  abstraction  to  satisfy  common  minds:  the 
very  constitution  of  human  nature  seems  to  require 
something  beyond  it ;  and  nothing  so  exactly  meets  the 
exigences  of  the  case  as  a  written  record,  bearing  the 


WITH    DEISM.  83 

stamp  of  divine  authority ; — a  record  which  shall  not 
only  be  open  alike  to  all,  but  which  shall  be  so  plain  that 
nothing  but  obstinate  prejudice  or  gross  depravity  shall 
be  able  to  pervert  it.  Deism  has  no  such  record.  To 
the  most  uncultivated  peasant  who  inquires  where  her 
doctrines  are  to  be  found,  she  can  only  reply  by  bidding 
him  eonmiune  with  the  glories  of  nature  around  him, 
or  notice  what  is  passing  in  his  own  bosom. 

But  if  Christianity  be  interrogated  in  respect  to  her 
doctrines,  she  points  at  once  to  a  record  of  them  with 
which  she  has  identified  her  own  existence.  In  the  sa- 
cred scriptures  is  contained  every  important  doctrine  and 
precept  which  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  inculcated,  as  well 
as  every  essential  fact  by  which  the  divinity  of  our  reli- 
gion is  proved.  And  this  record  comes  to  us  in  a  form 
best  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  capacities  of  men : 
it  is  not  a  course  of  abstract  reasoning  or  continuous  his- 
tory, but  an  admixture  of  doctrines  and  precepts,  prin- 
ciples and  facts,  thrown  together  by  different  persons,  at 
different  periods,  and  in  circumstances  which  forbade 
the  possibility  of  collusion. 

Now  there  are  two  points  of  view  in  which  this  wait- 
ten  record  to  which  Christianity  appeals,  may  be  consi- 
dered as  rendering  her  evidence  more  distinct  and  im- 
pressive. In  the  first  place,  the  truths  which  she  incul- 
cates, and  the  facts  by  which  she  is  sustained,  are  here 
brought  home  to  the  very  senses ;  so  that  he  that  run- 
neth may  read  and  understand.  And  then  the  very 
fact  that  such  a  record  exists,  taken  in  connexion  with 
its  character,  furnishes  decisive  proof  of  the  divine  origin 
of  Christianity.  And  if  the  skeptick  denies  this,  let  him 
tell  me  how  such  a  Book  as  the  New  Testament  could 
have  ever  come  to  be  generally  received,  if  it  contained 
only  the  record  of  a  base  imposture?     Especially  how^ 


84  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

came  it  to  be  received  by  the  very  people  among  whom 
the  wonderful  facts  which  it  records,  purport  to  have 
taken  place,  and  who  must  infallibly  have  known  whe- 
ther such  facts  had  occurred  or  not  ?  If  he  tells  me  that 
it  was  introduced  at  a  period  subsequent  to  that  at  which 
it  claims  to  have  been,  then  I  ask  him  for  any  thing  hke 
a  parellel  in  the  whole  record  of  human  experience,  to 
that  credulity  which  should  have  admitted  its  claims  un- 
der such  circumstances ; — should  have  admitted  that 
such  a  wonderful  train  of  events  as  the  New  Testament 
describes, — events  having  a  most  important  bearmg  on 
the  destinies  of  the  world,  should  have  occurred  a  few 
<'enturies  before,  and  yet  the  record  of  them  have  been 
entirely  lost,  until  suddenly  the  volume  in  which  they 
are  contained  should  be  ushered  into  the  world.  If  this 
were  so,  I  ask  him  how  this  book  came  to  be  so  exten- 
sively received  by  inquisitive  and  investigating  minds ; 
how  the  facts  which  it  contains  came  to  be  alluded  to  by 
some  of  the  most  celebrated  heathen  writers  at  the  very 
time  of  their  occurrence ;  how  it  came  to  pass  that  there 
are  various  quotations  made  from  it  by  many  different 
authors  from  the  time  that  it  claims  to  have  been  writ- 
ten ;  in  a  word  how  it  is  that  all  historical  testimony 
tixes  the  date  of  these  writings,  and  of  the  facts  which 
they  record,  at  the  period  in  which  Christianity  professes 
to  have  been  introduced?  And  I  ask  yet  again,  how 
comes  all  this  harmony,  both  in  respect  to  doctrines  and 
precepts,  in  the  productions  of  so  many  authors,  at  vari- 
ous times,  and  under  different  circumstances?  Whence 
come  all  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of  style,  the  origina- 
lity and  grandeur  of  thought,  the  elevated  morality,  the 
perfect  purity,  which  breathe  in  the  writings  of  these 
unlettered  peasants,  if  we  deny  that  they  had  that  com- 
munion with  the  source  of  all  wisdom  which  is  necessa- 


WITH    DEISM.  85 

ry  to  stamp  their  productions  with  the  seal  of  inspiration, 
and  of  course  their  religion  with  the  seal  of  divinity  ? 
You  see  then  that,  whether  we  consider  the  scriptures 
as  embodying  the  truths  and  facts  of  Christianity,  and 
thus  making  them  palpable  to  the  senses,  or  as  illustra- 
ting more  directly  the  evidence  of  Christianity  by  giving 
the  only  satisfactory  account  of  her  origin,  and  by  the 
wonderful  peculiarities  of  their  internal  structure,  we  are 
brought,  in  either  case,  to  the  conclusion  that  she  has  in 
her  written  record  a  mighty  advantage  over  Deism. 

3.  Deism  has  no  external  organization  :  Christiani- 
ty has  her  ordinances  and  institutions. 

It  must  indeed  be  conceded  to  Reason  that  she  teach- 
es the  duty  of  worshipping  God  ;  and  this  duty  many  of 
the  Deists  have  acknowledged  in  words,  though  few  of 
them,  it  is  believed,  have  not  denied  it  in  practice.  If  it 
be  allowed  that  Reason  can  discover  the  natural  perfec- 
tions of  God  in  connexion  with  his  goodness,  and  can 
ascertain  the  relationship  we  sustain  to  him  as  creatures, 
it  may  also  be  admitted  that  she  inculcates  the  duty  of 
approaching  him  with  reverence  in  view  of  his  majesty, 
with  gratitude  in  view  of  his  fa\  ours,  with  suppHcation 
in  view  of  our  dependance  upon  him.  But  farther  than 
this  Natural  Religion  cannot  go.  She  prescribes  no  rites 
of  religious  worship ;  she  has  no  institutions  by  means 
of  which  she  assumes  a  visibility,  thus  finding  her  way 
to  the  understandings  and  hearts  of  men  through  the 
senses.  This  deficiency  must  be  deeply  felt  by  beings 
constituted  as  we  are,  and  accustomed  to  view  almost 
every  thing  in  connexion  with  external  objects :  and  the 
result  in  respect  to  the  great  mass  of  Deists  proves  it ; 
for  certain  it  is  either  that  they  are  chargeable  with  base 
hypocrisy  in  not  believing  that  God  ought  to  be  worship- 
ped while  yet  they  profess  to  beHeve  it,  or  else  their  faith 

8 


86  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

is  SO  feeble  that  it  never  discovers  itself  in  corresponding 
conduct.  And  as  the  doctrines  of  Natural  Religion 
stand  or  fall  together,  it  may  fairly  be  inferred  that  what- 
ever has  a  tendency  to  render  one  of  these  truths  less 
impressive,  will  exert  a  similar  influence  in  respect  to  all 
of  them. 

Christianity  supplies  this  deficiency ;  inasmuch  as  her 
very  existence  is  identified  with  positive  precepts.  Her 
grand  organization  is  the  church  ;  and  through  this  me- 
dium she  puts  forth  her  efforts  to  regenerate  and  bless 
the  world.  And  then  there  are  various  institutions  and 
ordinances  from  which  the  church  derives  an  additional 
degree  of  visibility ;  particularly  the  sabbath,  the  minis- 
try of  the  gospel,  public  worship,  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

I  apply  now  substantially  the  same  remark  here  as 
was  made  under  the  preceding  article :  this  arrangement 
of  Christianity  is  made  subservient  to  the  illustration  of 
her  evidence  in  two  ways :  it  clothes  the  spirit  with  a 
body  ;  it  brings  out  abstract  truths  in  such  a  form  that 
our  very  senses  can  take  cognizance  of  them ;  it  associ- 
ates them  with  objects  which  we  can  see,  and  taste,  and 
handle,  and  thus  the  principle  of  association  is  rendered 
strongly  tributary  to  the  principle  of  faith.  And  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  these  various  ordinances  and  institutions 
point  back  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  some 
of  them  are  commemorative  of  events  with  which  Chris- 
tianity is  absolutely  identified.  The  ordinance  of  the 
Supper,  for  instance,  is  designed  to  commemorate  the 
death  of  Christ ;  and  purports  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Christ  himself  a  httle  before  his  death.  That  it  ac- 
tually was  instituted  at  the  time  it  claims  to  have  been, 
is  proved  by  the  uniform  testimony  of  all  ecclesiastical 
history.     That  it  was  instituted  by  Christ  himself,  is 


WITH    DEISM.  87 

manifest  from  the  fact  that  neither  his  friends  nor  his 
enemies  would  have  done  it :  for  his  friends  would  not 
have  dared  to  attempi  it ;  and  it  was  the  interest  of  his 
enemies  not  to  institute  new  memorials  of  him,  but  to 
blot  out  whatever  might  be  in  existence.  But  if  it  were 
instituted  by  Christ  at  the  time  specified,  it  must  have 
been  perfectly  obvious  to  all  whether  he  was  what  he 
claimed  to  be ;  and  if  he  had  not  been,  it  is  impossible, 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  that  the  ordinance 
should  have  been  perpetuated.  The  disciples  and  others 
must  have  known  whether  he  wrought  the  miracles  and 
exhibited  the  character  to  which  he  laid  claim.  They 
must  have  subsequently  known  whether  he  rose  from 
the  dead,  as  he  declared  that  he  would  do,  in  attestation 
of  his  Messiahship.  And  if  no  such  miracles  had  ex- 
isted, and  especially  if  the  grave  had  continued  to  hold 
him,  they  could  not  have  resisted  the  conviction  that  he 
was  an  impostor ;  and  in  that  case  could  have  had  no 
possible  motive  to  commemorate  his  death ;  particularly 
as,  in  doing  so,  they  subjected  themselves  to  the  severest 
sufferings  that  human  nature  could  endure.  I  say  then 
with  confidence  that  the  fact  that  the  early  Christians 
did  celebrate  the  ordinance  of  the  Supper,  and  then 
transmitted  it,  according  to  the  Saviour's  direction,  to 
other  generations  of  Christians,  so  that  it  has  been  con- 
tinued in  the  church  to  the  present  hour,  constitutes  an 
argument  for  the  truth  of  the  gospel  at  which  infidelity 
ought  to  hang  her  head.  And  every  other  institution 
connected  with  Christianity,  though  it  may  not  supply 
an  argument  in  all  respects  equally  striking,  lends  a  de- 
cisive testimony  to  her  divine  original. 

We  may  view  this  contrast  between  the  two  systems 
still  farther,  in  respect  to 


88  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

III.  The  energy  of  their  operations. 

Under  this  article  I  shall  endeavour  to  show  by  a  re- 
ference to  the  elements  of  the  two  systems,  that  the  one 
mig-ht  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  comparatively  pow- 
erless, the  other  to  operate  with  mighty  energy;  and 
then  appeal  to  your  own  observation  for  evidence  that 
this  is  actually  so. 

1.  Deism  includes  hutfeio  truths:  Christianity,  many. 

Truth  has  a  natural  adaptation  not  only  to  the  facul- 
ties of  the  mind,  but  to  the  affections  of  the  heart.  Its 
energy  may  indeed  be  resisted : — this  results  from  the 
very  nature  of  man  as  a  moral  agent ;  but  it  still  re- 
mains true  that  it  is  the  only  legitimate  depository  of  all 
moral  influence  ;  that  when  it  is  fairly  presented  to  the 
mind,  unless  it  is  obstructed  by  prejudice  or  passion,  it 
finds  its  w^ay  to  the  moral  powers  of  the  soul.  And  it 
operates  upon  our  desires  and  affections,  our  hopes  and 
fears,  guiding,  restraining,  controlling  them,  and  some- 
times accomplishing  an  entire  revolution  in  all  the  ha- 
bits and  principles  of  moral  action.  If  then  it  belongs 
to  the  very  nature  of  truth  that,  when  legitimately  re- 
ceived, it  brings  the  faculties  and  feelings  into  exercise, 
it  is  evident  that  the  greater  the  amount  of  truth  that  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  mind,  other  things  being  equal, 
the  greater  wall  be  the  influence  that  is  exerted. 

Now  we  have  already  seen  that  the  truths  which  De- 
ism includes,  allowing  to  her  all  that  she  has  ever 
claimed,  and  far  more  than  she  can  reasonably  claim, 
are  comparatively  few  ;  while  Christianity  reveals  many 
hidden  mysteries,  and  thus  vastly  enlarges  the  circle  of 
our  religious  knowledge.  Admit  that  Deism  teaches  the 
existence  and  some  of  the  perfections  of  God  ;  that  she 
gives  some  general  idea  of  a  Providence,  and  points  to 
a  future  state  of  retribution ; — yet  have  we  not  seen  that 


WITH    DEISM.  89 

the  discoveries  of  Christianity  are  incomparably  more 
extensive  and  glorious ;  that  she  exhibits  a  mysterious 
relation  in  the  Godhead  of  which  Reason  never  could 
have  dreamed ;  that  she  assures  man  not  only  of  his  fu- 
ture existence  but  of  his  immortahty ;  that  she  brings 
out  the  mediatorial  dispensation  in  all  the  extent  of  its 
provision  and  all  the  grandeur  of  its  relations  ?  If  then 
we  were  to  admit  that  the  truths  of  Natural  Religion 
were  accompanied  by  the  same  degree  of  evidence  with 
those  of  Christianity,  we  should  still  be  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  latter  were  adapted  to  exert  a  much 
more  powerful  influence  than  the  former,  simply  on  the 
ground  that  they  take  the  wider  range. 

2.  Deism  requires  belief  on  feeble  evidence :  Chris- 
tianity, on  evidence  the  most  complete. 

You  will  instantly  perceive  that  the  influence  of  any 
truth,  or  any  system  of  truth,  upon  the  heart  and  life, 
other  things  being  equal,  must  be  in  proportion  to  the 
degree  of  evidence  by  which  it  comes  attended.  Sup- 
pose, for  instance,  you  w^ere  at  a  distance  from  home, 
transacting  important  business,  and  were  to  hear  through 
some  very  equivocal  medium  that  some  member  of  your 
family  lay  dangerously  ill ;— you  might  not  indeed  en- 
tirely disregard  the  rumour,  but  still  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  reached  you,  might  render  it  so  exceedingly 
questionable  that  you  would  not  feel  yourself  justified,  in 
view  of  it,  to  break  away  from  the  important  business 
in  which  you  were  engaged.  But  suppose  that  a  spe- 
cial messenger  were  to  be  despatched  from  your  family, 
to  apprize  you  that  your  child  was  rapidly  sinking  under 
the  power  of  a  violent  disease  ;  suppose  you  were  to  re- 
ceive a  letter  written  in  the  well  known  hand  of  your 
wife,  and  bearing  in  every  line  marks  of  the  haste  and 
agony  in  which  it  was  written,  informing  you  that,  if 

8* 


90  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

you  would  ever  see  the  beloved  object  again,  you  must 
lose  no  time  in  returning  home; — your  business,  no 
matter  how  important  it  might  be,  would  not,  for  a  mo- 
ment, constitute  the  least  obstacle  to  your  setting  your 
face  homeward ;  and,  if  need  be,  you  would  travel  night 
and  day,  and  deny  yourself  food  as  well  as  rest,  until 
you  had  reached  the  bed  side  of  your  dying  child.  Now 
here  is  an  illustration  of  the  different  effects  of  faith,  as 
sustained  by  different  degrees  of  evidence.  In  the  for- 
mer case  the  evidence  is  feeble ;  and  your  faith  is  pro- 
portionably  feeble;  and  it  exerts  Httle  influence  upon 
your  heart,  and  none  at  all  upon  your  conduct.  In  the 
latter  case  the  evidence  is  overwhelming ;  and  your  faith 
mounts  up  to  assurance ;  and  it  brings  the  active  pow- 
ers of  your  soul  into  lively  exercise ;  and  it  leads  you 
not  only  to  vigorous  effort,  but,  as  the  case  may  be,  to 
severe  self  denial.  When  you  had  only  a  feeble  impres- 
sion that  the  life  of  your  child  was  in  jeopardy,  you 
could  keep  on  transacting  your  business  with  your  usual 
composure;  but  the  moment  that  impression  had  ga- 
tliered  the  strength  of  a  confident  conviction,  it  became 
powerfully  operative,  and  carried  you,  almost  as  if  on 
the  wings  of  the  wind,  to  the  scene  of  your  anticipated 
affliction. 

Apply  now  the  general  principle  which  comes  out  in 
this  illustration  to  the  case  we  are  considering.  Deism, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  demands  belief  on  compara- 
tively slight  evidence ;  while  Christianity  surrounds  her 
truths  w^th  a  blaze  of  evidence  which  no  impartial  mind 
can  resist.  We  have  seen  that  the  former  appeals  to 
abstract  reasoning  which  is  characterized  by  great  un- 
certainty ;  has  no  authoritative  record  of  her  doctrines, 
and  no  external  organization  to  confer  upon  her  visibili- 
ty ; — that  the  latter  appeals  directly  to  palpable  facts ; 


WITH    DEISM.  .  91 

has  her  doctrines  embodied  in  a  tangible  form,  and  lives 
and  operates  through  her  ordinances  and  institutions. 
Is  it  not  manifest  then,  on  the  principle  we  have  been 
illustrating,  that  the  former  must  have  a  comparatively 
feeble  hold  of  the  heart,  and  must  exert  a  proportionably 
feeble  influence  on  the  life ;  that  the  latter  is  adapted  to 
bring  into  vigorous  exercise  all  the  powers  oi  the  soul, 
and  to  keep  the  whole  man  under  active  and  steady 
contribution. 

3.  Deism  contemplates  truth  chiefly  in  its  speculative 
principles  :  Christianity,  in  its  j)ractical  relations. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  character  of  God — Deism  has 
always  been  chiefly  employed  in  investigating  the  abso- 
lute existence  of  the  divine  attributes ;  and  in  pursuing 
these  investigations,  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  nature 
of  infinity  and  the  connexion  between  cause  and  eflfect. 
In  the  greatness  or  the  littleness,  the  darkness  or  the 
splendour  of  her  speculations,  she  has  entirely  lost  sight 
of  the  practical  bearings  of  the  truth  she  has  set  herself  to 
estabUsh  ;  and  though  she  may  have  brought  out  some- 
thing to  bewilder  or  dazzle  the  imagination,  it  is  nothing 
that  makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  heart.  Christianity, 
on  the  other  hand,  lets  all  useless  speculation  alone; 
and  she  exhibits  the  character  of  God  chiefly  through 
the  relations  he  sustains  to  us,  and  in  connexion  with 
the  duties  which  we  owe  to  him.  She  exhibits  him  as 
our  Father  in  Heaven,  from  whom  cometh  down  every 
good  gift,  and  to  whom  we  are  bound  to  render  the  ho- 
mage of  the  heart  and  the  obedience  of  the  life ; — as 
our  Counsellor,  who  has  condescended  to  instruct  us  in 
respect  to  every  part  of  our  duty,  and  whose  teachings 
we  are  sacredly  bound  to  heed  ;— as  our  Judge,  at  whose 
tribunal  we  are  finally  to  render  an  account,  and  by 
whose  hand  our  eternal  retributions  are  to  be  njeasured 


92  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

out.  Instead  of  leading  us  into  a  maze  of  abstruse  spe- 
culations respecting  unity,  she  tells  us  that  "  the  Lord 
our  God  is  one  Lord,  and  Him  only  must  we  serve." 
Instead  of  perplexing  us  with  a  mass  of  unintelligible 
jargon  concerning  the  essential  properties  either  of  cor- 
poreal or  spiritual  existence,  she  simply  declares  to  us 
that  '-God  is  a  Spirit;"  and  in  connexion  with  this 
declaration,  charges  us  'Ho  worship  him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth."  Do  jou  not  perceive  that  this  latter  mode  of 
viewing  the  divine  character,  w^hile  it  is  far  more  simple, 
is  also  far  more  impressive,  than  the  former ;  and  that, 
while  the  one  is  adapted  to  lift  the  whole  soul  to  God, 
the  other  leaves  it  to  admire  the  beauty,  or  lose  itself  in 
the  mazes,  of  its  own  speculations  ? 

The  same  general  remark  applies  to  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  life — No  doubt  Reason  in  her  uncorrupted  state 
would  be  capable  of  arriving  at  the  discovery  of  this 
truth ;  but  if  you  will  examine  the  record  of  her  efforts 
in  relation  to  this  subject,  you  will  find  that  in  her  at- 
tempts to  prove  what  was  really  clear,  she  has  so  wrap- 
ped it  up  in  the  mist  of  philosophical  speculation,  that 
its  practical  bearings  are  almost  entirely  concealed.  In- 
deed so  unintelligible  and  absurd  and  absolutely  childish 
are  many  of  the  reasonings  of  the  philosophers  on  this 
subject,  that  they  are  adapted  with  unreflecting  minds 
to  bring  the  doctrine  itself  into  discredit ;  and  to  induce 
the  suspicion  that,  where  there  is  so  much  to  make  Vv'ar 
upon  common  sense,  there  can  be  no  truth  at  the  bottom. 
But  Christianity,  keeping  clear  of  this  abyss  of  absurdi- 
ty into  which  Philosophy  has  plunged,  assures  us  that 
we  are  destined  to  a  future  existence;  and  by  what  she 
does  not  reveal  respecting  it,  as  well  as  by  w^hat  she  does, 
she  appeals  directly  and  powerfully  to  the  active  princi- 
ples of  our  nature.     She  has  connected  with  this  doc- 


WITH    DEISM.  93 

trine  such  a  mixture  of  revelation  and  of  mystery  as 
was  best  adapted,  in  our  present  state,  to  give  the  doc- 
trine its  legitimate  effect ;  and  she  always  holds  it  up  as 
one  of  the  strongest  arguments  to  a  holy  life.  How 
much  greater  the  influence  of  this  truth  when  thus  exhi- 
bited, than  it  could  be  under  any  form  in  which  Reason 
has  ever  dreamed  of  presenting  it ! 

If  it  be  true  then  that  Deism  is  concerned  chiefly  with 
speculation,  and  Christianity  chiefly  with  practice  ;  that 
the  former  obscures  truth  by  the  very  arguments  which 
she  uses  to  illustrate  it,  and  neutralizes,  to  a  great  extent, 
what  is  true  by  connecting  with  it  what  is  false  and  ab- 
surd, while  the  latter  brings  out  truth  in  its  most  simple 
form,  unmixed  with  errour  and  unembarrassed  by  spe- 
culation ;  surely  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  one  is 
adapted  to  exert  but  a  feeble  influence,  and  the  other  to 
operate  with  a  mighty  energy. 

4.  Deism  appeals  to  man  only  as  a  creature :  Chris- 
tianity also  as  a  sinner. 

I  admit  that  pure  Natural  Rehgion  recognises  the  fact 
that  man  as  a  creature  of  God,  formed  by  his  hand  and 
sustained  by  his  Providence,  is  under  obligation  to  love, 
serve  and  glorify  him ;  and  that  this  obligation  cannot 
be  violated  but  at  the  expense  of  incurring  the  divine 
displeasure.  And  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  relation- 
ship of  man  to  his  Maker  suppHes  motives  of  great  weight 
to  a  particular  course  of  moral  action.  But  this  relation- 
ship, as  Natural  Religion  presents  it,  is  so  general  in  its 
nature,  and  there  are  so  many  important  questions  con- 
nected with  it  which  Reason  in  her  most  improved  state 
is  utterly  inadequate  to  answer,  that  it  can  hardly  be 
expected  to  suggest  considerations  powerful  enough  to 
exert  a  controlling  influence  over  the  heart  and  life. — 
Let  man  contemplate  himself  merely  as  God's  creature, 


94  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

independently  of  all  the  interest  which  this  relationship 
gathers  from  Christianity,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  will 
find  little  that  will  rouse  his  feelings  into  exercise,  or 
bring  his  faculties  into  action. 

Christianity  too  views  man  as  a  creature ;  and  she 
invests  this  relation  with  an  incomparably  deeper  interest 
than  Reason  had  ever  dreamed  of,  by  exhibiting  the 
condescending  regards  of  his  Maker  towards  him,  and 
the  superlative  and  immortal  felicity  which  he  is  capable 
of  attaining.  But  she  goes  farther,  and  contemplates 
him  also  as  a  sinner ;  that  is,  a  creature  who  has  viola- 
ted God's  law  and  drawn  upon  himself  the  curse  ;  who 
is  polluted  in  his  whole  moral  nature,  and  has  within 
himself  the  elements  of  an  eternal  ruin.  And  she  meets 
him  with  the  glorious  intelligence  that  God  is  in  Christ 
reconcihng  the  world  to  himself,  not  imputing  unto  men 
their  trespasses  ;  that,  on  condition  of  repentance  toward 
God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  there  is  pardon 
for  the  guilty,  sanctification  for  the  polluted,  everlasting 
life  for  those  who  have  merited  eternal  death. 

And  now  I  ask  you  what  other  system  of  truth  you 
can  conceive  of,  which  has  in  it  the  elements  of  such 
amazing  power ;  which  is  so  adapted  to  awaken  the 
feelings  of  the  heart,  to  control  the  actions  of  the  hfe  ?• 
In  what  way  could  you  expect  to  rouse  an  individual  to 
such  vigorous  effort,  as  by  showing  him  that  the  great- 
est good  is  within  his  reach,  while  yet  he  is  in  danger  of 
incurring  the  most  tremendous  evil?  But  this  Chris- 
tianity does  in  the  exhibition  which  she  makes  of  the 
glories  of  Heaven  and  the  horrours  of  Hell;  of  the 
straight  and  narrow  way  that  leads  to  life,  and  the  broad 
and  beaten  path  that  leads  to  death.  What  principle  of 
man's  nature  is  there  to  which  the  peculiar  truths  of 
Christianity  do  not  make  a  direct  and  powerful  appeal  ? 


WITH    DEISM.  95 

Is  he  susceptible  of  hope — What  can  call  it  into  exer- 
cise, if  not  the  incorruptible  glories  which  Christ  has 

purchased  for  his  people  ?     Is  he  susceptible  of  fear 

"What  object  will  he  fear  more  than  the  wrath  of  God 
as  it  is  displayed  in  the  Redeemer's  sufferings  on  the 
cross  ?  Is  he  susceptible  of  gratitude — What  then 
must  be  the  measure  of  his  gratitude  towards  Him,  who, 
though  he  was  rich,  for  his  sake  became  poor  ?  Is  he 
susceptible  of  devout  admiration— What  better  fitted  to 
call  it  into  exercise  than  that  stupendous  plan  into  which 
angels  desire  to  look  ?  If  these  are  some  of  the  most 
active  principles  of  human  nature— and  w^ho  will  deny 
that  they  are  so?— and  if  the  plan  of  redeeming  mercy- 
is  adapted  to  appeal  w^ith  greater  power  to  each  of  them 
than  any  other  system  of  truth  that  can  be  proposed,  I 
ask  again,  who  can  estimate  the  inherent  energies  of 
Christianity  ? 

5.  Deism  recognises  no  supernatural  or  special  di- 
vine influence  upon  the  heart :  Christianity  reveals  the 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  iSpi?ifs  agency. 

Deism,  especially  in  her  purer  forms,  is  ready  enough 
to  admit  the  general  doctrine  of  Providence ;  that  is,  that 
God  governs  the  world  according  to  fixed  laws.  But 
this  system  binds  him  down  to  these  laws  so  closely  as 
never  to  admit  the  least  departure  from  them  ;  indeed  it 
makes  his  presence  in  the  universe  a  comparatively  un- 
important matter  ;  for  it  supposes  that  the  great  system 
of  things  moves  forw^ard  agreeably  to  the  ordinance  of 
Him  who  arranged  it,  in  much  the  same  sense  that  a 
machine  continues  its  operations  w^hile  it  remains  under 
the  impulse  which  first  set  it  in  motion.  You  will  rea- 
dily perceive  that  here  is  no  place  either  for  the  doctrine 
of  miracles,  or  the  doctrine  of  a  special  divine  influence: 
for  these  doctrines  imply  that  God  may  so  far  vary  from 


96  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

his  ordinary  coarse  of  procedure,  as  to  put  forth  his  hand 
in  special  acts  either  of  mercy  or  of  judgment. 

Whatever  of  truth  Deism  admits  in  respect  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Providence,  Christianity  also  recognises ;  but 
the  latter  exhibits  the  doctrine  in  a  far  more  attractive 
form,  and  with  some  highly  important  additions.  In 
Jehovah  she  sees  the  wise  and  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all 
things  ;  but  instead  of  regarding  him  as  little  more  than 
an  inactive  spectator  of  the  operations  of  the  laws  he  has 
ordained,  she  contemplates  him  as  ever  active  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  his  government,  and  comprehending 
within  the  circle  of  his  regards  the  least,  as  well  as  the 
grandest,  events.  Beside  this  providential  agency  in  or- 
dering our  lot,  she  recognises  the  native  power  of  truth 
over  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  and  relies  upon  it  as 
the  grand  instrument  of  gaining  her  victories.  But  more 
than  all,  she  reveals  a  special  divine  influence  which 
operates  in  a  mysterious  way  upon  our  moral  nature ; 
and  which  accomplishes  what  nothing  else  can  accom- 
plish.— the  transformation  of  the  flinty  heart  into  a  heart 
that  can  mourn  for  its  sins,  and  beat  sympathetically 
and  gratefully  to  the  tender  expressions  of  redeeming 
love. 

There  are  two  views  to  be  taken  of  this  doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  influence,  both  of  which  illustrate  the 
peculiar  energy  of  Christianity.  In  the  first  place,  there 
is  an  agency  from  above  hereby  secured  to  us,  which 
alone  is  adequate  to  the  complete  renovation  of  our  moral 
nature.  The  truth  is  indeed  "  the  sword  ;"  but  unless 
it  is  wielded  by  "  the  Spirit,"  it  will  never  eflfectually  slay 
the  enmity  of  the  heart :  the  truth  is  also  a  healing 
balm;  but  unless  it  is  applied  by  '- the  Spirit,"  it  will 
never  prove  the  needed  remedy  to  the  wounded  con- 
science.    And  then  again,  this  doctrine  is  adapted  to  set 


WITH    DEISM.  97 

man  at  work  most  vigorously  and  efficiently  for  himself. 
When  his  eyes  are  opened  to  a  true  view  of  his  condi- 
tion, he  might  well  enough  sit  down  in  despair,  if  he 
were  compelled  to  reflect  that  the  work  of  his  regenera- 
tion must  be  accomplished  entirely  by  himself;  and  even 
the  Christian  might  reasonably  enough  abandon  the 
hope  of  ever  gaining  the  victory  over  his  spiritual  ene- 
mies, if  he  had  not  the  privilege  of  looking  beyond  his 
own  strength.  But  when  the  one  reads  that  "  the  Spi- 
rit of  God  is  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds," 
and  when  the  other  reads  that  "  the  Spirit  helpeth  our 
infirmities,  making  intercession  for  us  with  groanings 
which  cannot  be  uttered ;"  there  is  every  possible  en- 
couragement for  the  former  to  "  strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
straight  gate,"  and  for  the  latter  to  go  forward  with  re- 
newed zeal  in  his  conflict  with  corruption  and  tempta- 
tion. So  also  in  the  great  effort  which  the  church  is 
making,  in  obedience  to  her  ascended  Lord,  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world ; — when  she  looks  abroad  upon  the 
principalities  and  powers  with  which  she  has  to  contend, 
and  contemplates  the  mountainous  obstacles  which  rise 
up  to  impede  her  progress,  there  is  but  one  consideration 
that  keeps  her  from  despair ;  it  is,  that  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  will  certainly  be  revealed  for  her  aid  : — and  when 
she  remembers  this,  the  smile  of  gladness  relumes  her 
countenance,  the  confidence  of  success  animates  her 
heart,  and  nerves  her  arm ;  and  mountains  sink  into 
plains  before  her.  Thus  while  almighty  power  is  actu- 
ally brought  to  her  aid,  the  assurance  that  she  shall  be 
thus  sustained,  brings  out  her  own  energies  to  the  ut- 
most ;  and  she  moves  forward  in  her  work  under  the 
advantage  of  having  all  her  own  power  combined  with 
the  strength  of  omnipotence. 

9 


m 


CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 


I  have  endeavoured  to  show  you  by  a  reference  to 
some  of  the  leading  elements  of  Deism  and  Christianity, 
that  we  might  reasonably  expect  that  there  would  be  a 
mighty  difference  in  the  energy  of  their  respective  ope- 
rations. And  now  in  conclusion  of  this  article,  I  beg 
leave  to  appeal  in  one  word  to  the  history  of  the  two 
systems,  or,  if  you  please,  to  your  own  observation  of  their 
practical  influence,  in  confirmation  of  the  views  which 
have  been  exhibited. 

If  we  consider  Deism  merely  as  the  great  foe  of  Chris- 
tianity, we  certainly  cannot  impute  to  her  any  lack  either 
of  energy  or  industry.  Under  her  influence,  men  have 
tasked  themselves  to  the  utmost, — have  strained  every 
nerve,  and  appealed  to  every  principle  in  the  human 
bosom,  with  a  view  to  drive  Christianity  from  the 
earth.  But  if  )^ou  consider  Deism  merely  as  a  system 
of  religious  doctrine,  including  those  truths  which  are 
supposed  to  be  revealed  by  the  light  of  nature,  then  I 
hesitate  not  to  say  that  her  whole  history  shows  her  to 
have  been,  in  a  great  degree,  powerless.  I  do  not  say 
that  there  is  no  power  in  the  truths  which  the  Deist  ac- 
knowledges ;  but  I  do  say  that  he  feels  not  the  power 
which  actually  resides  in  them ;  that  they  are  held  so 
feebly,  or  held  in  connexion  with  so  much  errour,  that 
they  exert  little  or  no  authority  over  his  heart  or  con- 
science. The  Deist  professes  to  believe  that  God  is  a 
Being  of  infinite  perfection,  and  that  man  his  creature 
is  entirely  dependant  upon  him,  and  of  course  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  man  to  offer  to  God  suppHcations  and  thanks- 
givings. But  do  you  believe  that  these  truths  actually 
induce  the  Deist  to  worship  God  ?  I  do  not  deny  that 
instances  of  this  kind  may  have  occurred ;  but  I  confess 
I  never  yet  had  the  evidence  of  one ;  and  if  they  do  ex- 
ist, I  believe  you  will  agree  with  me  that  they  are  ex- 


WITH    DEISM.  99 

ceedingly  rare.  Deism  too  has  always  been  a  sworn 
enemy  to  self-denial,  and  a  never  failing  friend  to  self- 
indulgence.  When  have  you  ever  seen  or  heard  of  a 
company  of  Deists  going  forth  under  the  influence  of 
the  truths  they  have  professed  to  believe,  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  great  and  good  object  which  must  put 
in  requisition  the  whole  amount  of  their  intellectual  and 
moral  energies  ?  And  I  go  farther  and  ask,  where  have 
you  ever  known  a  single  Deist,  whose  faculties  and  feel- 
ings were  fairly  drawn  out  into  bold  and  vigorous  action, 
where  it  was  not  manifestly  to  be  attributed  to  some 
other  influence  than  that  of  the  doctrines  which  were 
embodied  in  his  religious  system  ? 

A  single  glance  at  the  triumphs  of  Christianity  is 
enough  to  show  that  the  power  which  we  have  contem- 
plated as  dwelling  in  her  is  no  creature  of  imagination. 
Look  at  her  triumphs  in  the  very  infancy  of  her  exis- 
tence ;  and  hear  her  saying,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  and 
then  behold  the  darkness  beginning  to  roll  away.  See 
her  setting  up  her  dominion  in  thousands  of  hearts,  and 
driving  out  the  vile  usurpers  which  had  held  them  in 
subjection.  See  her  moving  forward  in  the  meekness 
and  majesty  of  love,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  until 
thrones,  and  principalities,  and  powers,  yield  to  her 
superior  authority.  Behold  her  abroad  in  the  world 
at  this  hour,  changing  tiger-like  ferocity  into  lamb-hke 
gentleness ;  demolishing  heathen  altars,  burning  idol 
gods,  and  waving  her  standard  over  some  of  the  dark- 
est and  bloodiest  territories  of  the  empire  of  Satan. — 
She  has  indeed  often  had  her  truths  obscured  and  per- 
verted, and,  in  the  same  proportion,  has  been  bereaved 
of  her  native  energy ;  but  never  has  she  been  sufl^ered 
to  appear  in  the  majesty  of  her  own  attractions,  but 
that  she  has  drawn  men  unto  her :  never  has  she  gone 


100  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

forth  in  her  simphcity  and  purity,  but  that  she  has  ac- 
compHshed  wonders,  wiiich  prove  that  she  is  a  native  of 
the  skies. 

We  pass  to  the  last  point  in  the  contrast  between  De- 
ism and  Christianity,  viz : 

IV.    The  CHARACTER  OF  THEIR  RESULTS. 

1.  Deism  can  do  nothing  to  hush  the  clamours  of 
guilt :  Christianity  soothes  the  troubled  conscience  into 
peace. 

If,  amidst  the  singular  events  that  sometimes  occur, 
an  awakened  sinner  should  ever  approach  a  Deist  as 
his  counsellor,  and  should  propound  to  him  that  mo- 
mentous question,  '  What  he  must  do  to  be  saved,'  I 
should  really  be  curious  to  stand  by,  and  hsten  to  the 
answer  with  which  the  inquiry  would  be  met.  I  will 
suppose — what  I  pray  God  may  never  be  the  sad  reali- 
ty— that  some  individual  before  me,  has  become  a  Deist; 
that  you  have  learned  to  be  at  home  in  the  company  of 
those  who  scoff  at  the  Bible,  and  have  yourself  become 
as  great  a  scoffer  as  the  greatest ;  but  having  wandered 
into  the  house  of  God,— perhaps  for  the  very  purpose  of 
collecting  materials  for  impious  cavil  or  \Tilgar  ridicule, — 
you  have  heard  something  that  has  come  like  an  arrow 
to  your  soul — like  a  cloud  over  your  path ;  that  has 
made  you  pause  in  horrour  to  contemplate  the  future,  and 
waked  up  in  your  bosom  a  fierce  minister  of  vengeance, 
whose  very  existence  you  had  ridiculed  as  a  dream,  only 
because  you  had  brought  over  him  a  lethargy.  Now  I 
acknowledge  it  were  most  natural  to  expect,  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, that  you  would  turn  away  from  those  who 
had  before  been  your  associates,  and  seek  counsel  of 
some  christian  friend, — perhaps  of  the  very  minister 
who  had  been  the  instrument  of  arousing  you ;  but  I 
will  here  suppose  that  you  should  first  spread  your  case 


WITH    DEISM.  101 

before  some  one  or  more  of  your  unbelieving  companions 
and  let  them  prescribe  for  it  as  well  as  they  can.     You 
select  one  in  whom  you  have  been  accustomed  to  confide 
without  reserve ;  and  in  whose  friendship  you  think  you 
have  a  pledge  that  he  will  at  least  not  trifle  with  the  an- 
guish of  your  spirit.     But  he  laughs  at  you  as  the  child 
of  folly  or  of  phrenzy ;  and  instead  of  offering  you  even 
the  sympathy  of  a  friend,  he  leaves  your  heart  bleeding 
afresh  from  his  unkindness.     That  you  may  give  Deism 
a  fair  trial,  you  select  yet  another  infidel  counsellor,  and 
he  the  most  sober,  reflecting,  and  amiable,  of  all  your 
unbelieving  associates.    You  tell  him  honestly  that  there 
is  a  burden  upon  your  conscience  which  you  know  not 
how  to  throw  off;  that  the  conviction  that  you  are  a  sin- 
ner weighs  upon  you  Hke  a  mountain ;  and  you  press 
him  with  that  most  troublesome  of  all  problems,— trou- 
blesome ahke  to  him  and  to  you,—'  how  you  shall  ob- 
tain the  divine  forgiveness.'     Not  disposed,  hke  the  other, 
to  insult  your  agony,  he  tells  you  that  he  doubts  not  you 
are  contending  chiefly  with  a  diseased  imagination;  but 
that,  so  far  as  the  evil  of  which  you  complain  is  real, 
the  proper  remedy  for  it  is  repentance.     But  you  ask 
him  how  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  repentance 
will  be  availing ;  and  his  reply  is  that  he  infers  it  from 
the  mercy  of  God.     You  inquire  yet  again,  how  he 
knows,  apart  from  Revelation,  that  God  is  merciful ;  or 
even  if  that  were  admitted,  how  he  knows  that  he  is  so 
merciful  as  to  forgive  sin  upon  repentance.     You  remind 
him  that  if  Reason  teaches  that  God  is  merciful,  she 
teaches  with  equal  distinctness  that  he  is  just ;  that  his 
justice  requires  that  he  should  guard  the  honours  of  his 
law ;  that  his  law  has  made  no  provision  for  the  pardon 
of  sin;  and  that  you  cannot  see  upon  the  principles  of 
Natural  Religion  how  sin  can  be  pardoned  in  consisten- 

9* 


102  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

cy  with  the  honours  of  the  eternal  throne.  I  do  not  say 
that  you  have  hereby  sealed  his  lips ;  but  I  am  sure  you 
have  left  hiin  nothing  to  say.  You  have  given  him  a 
problem  which  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  Reason  to  solve ; 
and  if  he  is  an  honest  man,  he  will  either  refer  you  to 
some  other  guide,  or  bid  you  sit  down  in  despair. 

From  this  most  unsatisfactory  conference,  you  go  back 
to  yoin-  chamber  to  weep ;  and  I  hear  you  say  to  your- 
self, '  If  the  system  from  which  I  have  sought  consola- 
tion be  true,  nothing  remains  for  me  but  to  weep  my  life 
away  in  a  perpetual  agony.'  But  presently  I  see  you 
spreading  your  case  before  a  minister  of  Christ.  He 
tells  you  that  your  condition,  when  viewed  apart  from 
the  provisions  of  the  gospel,  is  even  more  wretched  than 
your  gloomiest  conceptions  have  made  it :  but  with  this 
acknowledgement  he  begins  to  talk  to  you  on  new 
grounds  respecting  forgiveness.  He  explains  to  you  the 
glorious  fact  that  "  God  is  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
to  himself"  He  shows  you  that,  in  virtue  of  the  sacri- 
fice on  Calvary,  the  vilest  transgressor  may  be  pardoned 
and  yet  the  honours  of  the  law  remain  inviolate ;  that 
by  faith  in  that  sacrifice,  you  may  obtain  the  remission 
of  your  sins,  and  a  title  to  more  than  the  forfeited  bless- 
ings of  immortality.  1  watch  you  while  this  cheering 
doctrine  is  announced  and  explained,  and  see  your  coun- 
tenance beginning  to  brighten  with  an  expression  of 
hope.  As  I  behold  your  eye  fastened  upon  the  cross,  I 
contemplate  the  workings  of  living  faith  in  your  soul. 
You  fall  into  the  arms  of  Jesus,  and  recognise  him  as 
a  Saviour.  You  listen  to  the  voice  of  Jesus,  and  hear 
him  say,  '  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee.'  You  think  of  the 
burden  that  was  just  pressing  upon  your  conscience; 
but  in  place  of  it,  find  a  joy  that  is  unspeakable.  You 
look  up  to  the  eternal  throne,  and  see  the  stern  majesty 


WITH    DEISM.  103 

of  the  Lawgiver  and  the  Judge  melted  into  the  mild 
majesty  of  the  forgiving  Father.  You  were  wretched 
up  to  the  moment  that  you  became  a  Christian.  Deism 
had  tried  her  skill  upon  you,  and  left  you  as  wretched 
as  ever;  and  after  she  had  abandoned  your  case  as 
hopeless,  Christianity  came  and  prescribed  a  remedy  for 
you,  alike  glorious  in  its  nature  and  effectual  in  its  appli- 
cation. 

2.  Deism  can  point  to  7io  monuments  of  her  sancti- 
fying  power :  Christianity  has  them  without  number. 

Much  of  what  might  otherwise  be  appropriate  under 
this  article,  I  have  already  anticipated  in  contrasting  the 
two  systems  in  respect  to  the  energy  of  their  operations ; 
for  the  very  power  which  the  one  lacks  and  the  other 
possesses,  is  a  power  to  cure  the  moral  disorders  of  the 
soul,  and  to  form  in  it  a  spirit  of  heavenly  purity.  I  am 
willing  here  to  concede  to  Deism  every  thing  that  she 
can  fairly  claim :  that  she  has  numbered,  and  still  num- 
bers, among  her  votaries,  some  men  who  are  not  only 
humane  and  courteous  in  the  intercourse  of  life,  but  so- 
ber, and  moral,  and  public  spirited,  and  ready  to  lend 
themselves  to  many  good  objects,  far  be  it  from  me  to 
deny ;  but  still  I  must  be  permitted  to  ask  for  the  monu- 
ments of  her  purifying  power.  The  leading  elements 
of  piety  are  the  love  of  God,  and  the  fear  of  God  :  show 
me  a  Deist,  if  you  can,  who  gives  you  any  evidence  of 
possessing  either !  Both  of  these  are  active  principles 
and  lead  directly  to  obedience ;  but  where  are  the  Deists 
who  make  it  manifest  that  their  grand  aim  is  to  please 
and  glorify  God?  Nay,  T  shall  venture  one  step  farther, 
and  assert  that  the  Deists  as  a  class  are  immoral  men ; 
and  that  it  is  a  rare  case  that  you  will  find  an  individu- 
al who  rejects  divine  revelation,  that  does  not  practically 
show  that  there  is  a  reason  for  it  in  the  strictness  of  some 


104  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

of  its  moral  precepts.  I  appeal  to  the  lives  of  the  most 
celebrated  Deists  of  the  last  century, — men  whose  names 
have  stood  out  on  the  records  of  infidelity, — for  evidence 
that  I  am  doing  them  no  injustice.  I  appeal  to  their 
writings  too,  in  which  they  boldly  and  coolly  attack 
some  of  the  first  principles  of  morals,  and  hcense  the  very 
worst  passions  of  the  heart,  and  endeavour  to  sweep 
away  every  barrier  to  the  perpetration  of  crime.  Herbert 
and  Hobbes,  Tindall  and  Shaftsbury,  Hume  and  Bohng- 
broke,  Woolston  and  Chubb,  were  professedly  Deists :  I 
do  not  say  indeed  that  they  had  all  learned  to  wallow  in 
as  deep  pollution,  or  were  as  familiar  with  the  dialect  of 
the  damned,  as  Paine ;  but  I  do  say  that,  either  from 
what  they  have  written,  or  what  has  been  written  con- 
cerning them,  you  may  infer  most  legitimately  that  not 
one  of  them  had  any  reverence  for  the  divine  character, — 
not  one  of  them  was,  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word,  a 
moral  man.  These  were  indeed  men  of  another  age, 
and  we  know  nothing  of  them  but  w^hat  has  been  trans- 
mitted to  us  through  the  medium  of  their  own  works,  or 
from  the  generation  to  which  they  belonged.  But  we 
have  all  known  men  who  have  professedly  held  their 
views,  and  have  even  gloried  in  being  their  disciples : 
and  I  ask  you  whether,  among  them  all,  you  have  ever 
known  a  truly  devout  and  conscientious  man ;  nay.  I 
will  go  so  far  as  to  ask  whether,  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases,  you  have  not  found,  by  a  close  inspection  of  the 
characters  of  these  men,  that  they  were  setting  some  one 
or  more  of  the  undisputed  rules  of  morality  at  defiance? 
I  say  again,  far  be  it  from  me  to  deny  to  Deism  any 
thing  which  she  can  reasonably  claim ;  but  grant  her 
the  utmost  that  she  can  claim,  and  you  are  still  held  to 
the  conviction  that  she  exerts  not  a  sanctifying,  but  cor- 
rupting, influence. 


WITH    DEISM.  105 

Far  different  is  the  conclusion  to  which  we  are  brought, 
when  we  consult  the  records  of  Christianity.  Wherever 
she  has  prevailed,  she  has  exerted  a  transforming  influ- 
ence on  the  very  elements  of  human  character.  Indiffe- 
rence or  opposition  to  all  religion  has  given  place  to  an 
exemplary  piety  :  selfishness  in  its  varied  forms  has  given 
place  to  a  benevolence  as  active  as  it  is  universal.  Un- 
der the  teachings  of  Christianity,  men  have  learned  to 
cherish  the  spirit,  and  to  engage  in  the  exercises,  of  de- 
votion ;  to  yield  a  cheerful  and  filial  obedience  to  all 
God's  commandments  ;  to  deny  themselves  and  take  up 
the  cross ;  to  be  meek  and  humble,  condescending  and 
forgiving ;  to  do  good  to  all  men  as  they  have  opportu- 
nity. What  influence  could  have  made  Paul,  Baxter, 
Brainard,  and  Martin,  what  they  were,  but  the  influ- 
ence of  Christianity  ?  What  but  this  could  have  kept 
them  in  such  constant  communion  with  God ;  could 
have  made  them  so  forgetful  of  their  own  personal  ease, 
and  so  bold  to  encounter  the  most  appalling  obstacles, 
for  the  good  of  their  fellow-men  ; — in  a  word,  could  have 
imparted  to  them  a  character  which  infidelity,  with  all 
her  hardihood,  can  scarcely  assail  without  a  blush  ? — 
These  names,  it  is  true,  shine  out  on  the  records  of  Chris- 
tianity with  a  glorious  prominence ;  but  there  is  not  a 
spot  on  earth  where  our  religion  has  prevailed  in  its  pu- 
rity, but  I  can  point  to  some  as  monuments  of  its  rege- 
nerating power.  And  just  in  proportion  as  it  has  pre- 
vailed, have  such  monuments  been  multiplied,  and  an 
elevated  piety  and  an  exemplary  morality  have  shed 
around  their  hallowed  influence. 

3.  Deism  furnishes  no  adequate  solace  to  the  heart 
under  the  sorrows  of  life :  Christianity  yields  the  most 
abundant  consolation. 


106  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

I  have  often  met  the  skeptick  when  the  waves  of  af- 
fliction were  roUing  over  him  ;  and  have  always  regarded 
him  as  one  of  the  most  pitiable  of  mortals.  Sometimes 
indeed  I  have  seen  him,  under  the  influence  of  natural 
fortitude,  exhibit  a  tranquillity  of  spirit  at  w^hich  I  have 
marvelled ;  but  much  oftener  have  I  beheld  him  exhibit 
an  agony  of  spirit  at  which  I  have  shuddered.  And  I 
wonder  not  that  he  should  yield  to  the  very  phrenzy  of 
grief,  so  long  as  he  looks  for  consolation  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  Deism.  I  will  suppose  that  I  were  myself  at 
this  hour  just  beginning  to  feel  the  weight  of  some  heavy 
burden  of  wo, — if  you  please,  that  I  had  just  closed  the 
eyes  of  some  beloved  object  for  whom  I  would  gladly 
have  died  ;  and  that,  in  my  half-phrenzied  state  of  mind, 
I  should  be  so  inconsiderate  as  to  turn  to  some  skeptical 
friend  who  was  standing  by,  and  ask  him  what  he  could 
do  to  alleviate  my  agony.  He  tells  me  that  these  events 
are  inevitable.  My  troubled  heart  answers,  '  There  is 
no  comfort  in  that.'  He  tells  me  that  it  is  beneath  the 
dignity  of  my  nature  to  be  overwhelmed  with  grief.  My 
troubled  heart  answers  again,  '  There  is  no  comfort  in 
that.'  He  tells  me,  yet  once  more,  that  afflictions  result 
from  the  present  constitution  of  things,  and  therefore  are 
to  be  patiently  submitted  to.  And  my  troubled  heart 
answers  yet  again,  '  Neither  is  there  any  comfort  in  that.' 
In  the  effort  to  sooth  me  he  has  become  a  mocker  of 
my  grief  I  am  sick  of  such  miserable  comforters.  I 
turn  away  and  open  my  ear  to  the  counsel  of  some 
Christian  friend. 

And  what  hast  thou  to  say.  Disciple  of  Christ,  that 
will  suppress  these  rising  sobs?  I  hear  him  answer, 
^  God  thy  Father  hath  done  it ; — he  hath  done  it  for  thy 
good  ; — he  hath  done  it  in  covenant  faithfulness  ; — and 
by  it  he  designs  to  prepare  thee  for  wearing  a  brighter 


WITH    DEISM.  107 

crown.  Jesus  thy  Saviour  hath  experienced  incompara- 
bly more  bitter  sufferings  than  these  in  thy  behalf ;  and 
surely  thou  wilt  not  think  it  a  hardship,  especially  in 
view  of  the  glory  that  shall  follow,  that  the  disciple  should 
be  as  his  Lord.'  I  ask  no  more.  My  troubled  spirit  re- 
vives and  the  current  of  my  grief  is  arrested.  I  look  up 
to  God  my  Father  and  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done."  I 
look  up  to  Jesus  my  Redeemer  and  say,  "  The  cup  which 
thou  hast  given  me,' — far  less  bitter  than  that  which 
thou  hast  received  in  my  behalf, — '  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?" 
I  am  tranquil  now,  for  my  confidence  is  in  Jehovah  my 
Strength.  I  hear  the  clods  rattle  upon  the  coffin  of  my 
friend,  and  still  I  can  lift  the  eye  of  faith  to  Heaven  and 
say,  "  Father,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt." 

I  have  spoken  of  an  event  which  may  well  enough 
represent  the  ordinary  afflictions  of  life  ;  and  of  the  im- 
potence of  Deism  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  power  of 
Christianity  on  the  other,  to  yield  adequate  consolation. 
But  I  should  not  do  justice  to  this  branch  of  my  subject, 
if  I  were  not  distinctly  to  present  the  contrast  between 
the  Deist's  and  the  Christian's  dying  scene ;  and  show 
you  how  the  one  is  left  alone  in  nature's  greatest  exigen- 
cy,— how  the  other  triumphs  in  the  strength  of  an  al- 
mighty arm.  And  here  I  am,  by  no  means,  disposed  to 
deny  that  there  have  been  instances  in  which  Deists 
have  persevered  in  the  behef  of  their  system  to  the  last, 
and  have  passed  through  the  dark  valley  as  indifferent 
to  the  future  as  if  they  w  ere  brutes.  And  these  instances 
are  easily  enough  accounted  for,  not  only  from  the  laws 
that  regulate  the  formation  of  a  sinful  habit,  but  from 
the  fact  that  beyond  a  certain  point  in  transgression,  God 
gives  up  the  sinner  judicially  to  be  the  victim  of  his  own 
voluntary  infatuation.  But  I  maintain  that,  in  far  the 
greater  number  of  cases,  in  which  Deism  would  seem  to 


108  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

rise  above  fear  in  the  near  prospect  of  death,  her  tri- 
umph is  nothing  better  than  miserable  affectation  ;  and 
not  unfrequently  the  effort  at  disguise  betrays  itself,  and 
the  secrets  of  the  heart  work  their  way  out  through  the 
expression  of  the  countenance,  or  even  the  undesigned 
confession  of  the  hps.  I  know  how  frequently  and  how 
triumphantly  the  case  of  Hume  has  been  quoted  as  evin- 
cing the  calmness  with  which  a  Deist  can  die ;  but  if  you 
examine  carefully  that  case,  I  strongly  suspect  you  will 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  Hume  was  only  an  actor,  a 
hypocrite,  on  his  death  bed ;  and  that  the  gay  and  sport- 
ive manner  which  he  assumed,  was  but  the  covering 
which  pride  threw  over  the  workings  of  his  terrified  spirit. 
Paine  too,  in  one  of  the  last  hours  of  his  life,  could  re- 
vile the  adorable  name  of  Jesus,  and,  in  the  spirit  of 
fiendlike  malignity,  bid  one  of  the  ministers  of  Jesus  de- 
part from  his  presence ;  and  yet  to  those  who  watched 
him  narrowly,  there  were  indications  not  to  be  misun- 
derstood, that  he  had  already  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
his  own  conscience,  and  that  he  needed  no  one  to  tell 
him  that  he  was  soon  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living 
God.  And  well  do  I  remember  the  case  of  another  in- 
dividual, scarcely  less  gifted  in  his  intellect,  or  less  de- 
graded in  his  life,  or  less  bold  in  his  blasphemy,  than 
Paine,  who,  when  he  saw  that  the  hand  of  death  was 
upon  him,  showed  clearly  enough,  with  all  his  efforts  at 
concealment,  that  he  regarded  it  a  horrible  thing  to  die. 
But  there  are  cases  innumerable  in  which  conscience  so 
far  gets  the  better  of  pride,  that  there  is  not  even  an 
attempt  to  conceal  the  inward  agony ;  and  that  system 
which  had  even  been  gloried  in  in  health,  is  pronounced 
worthless  in  death ;  and  the  soul  eagerly  and  trembling- 
ly asks  the  way  to  the  cross,  if,  by  any  means,  it  may 
feel  the  efficacy  of  atoning  blood,  before  it  shall  have 


WITH    DEISM.  109 

passed  out  of  the  dark  valley.  Tell  me  not  then  of  the 
fearlessness  of  the  Deist  in  respect  to  the  future,  till  you 
have  seen  how  he  can  die ;  for  however  much  he  may, 
in  the  season  of  health,  vaunt  his  unconcern  about  dying, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  will  show  himself  a  cow- 
ard, when  he  sees  that  the  conflict  is  no  longer  to  be  put 
off;  and  you  need  not  wonder  if  black  despair  should 
seize  upon  him,  and  he  should  turn  away  from  the  oflfers 
of  mercy,  not  because  he  any  longer  doubts  their  reality, 
but  because  his  struggling  spirit  will  have  it  that  it  has 
already  received  the  impress  of  reprobation.  I  appeal  to 
instances  which  have  fallen  under  my  own  observation,— 
I  appeal  with  equal  confidence  to  the  experience  of  al- 
most every  minister  of  Christ, — for  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  the  hour  which  closes  the  infidel's  life  is,  frequently 
to  say  the  least,  an  hour  of  unutterable  anguish ;  and 
that  comparatively  few  of  this  class  leave  the  world, 
without,  in  some  way  or  other,  rendering  a  distinct  ho- 
mage to  the  truth  and  value  of  the  gospel. 

From  these  scenes  of  agony  and  horrour  which  the 
infidel's  deatli  bed  so  often  presents,  turn  your  eye  for  a 
moment  upon  what  is  passing  in  the  chamber  of  the 
dying  Christian.  I  do  not  assert  that  the  death  bed  of 
every  Christian  presents  a  scene  of  triumph ;  for  well 
do  I  know  that  there  are  instances  in  which  the  Chris- 
tian in  his  last  hour  is  oppressed  with  doubt  and  anxie- 
ty ;  but  then  he  is  doubtful  and  anxious,  not  in  respect 
to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  but  in  respect  to  the  reality  of 
his  own  experience  of  its  regenerating  power.  I  assert, 
without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  that  an  instance  never 
occurred,  in  which  an  individual,  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed even  to  yield  a  speculative  assent  to  the  truths  of 
Christianity,  was  harrassed  Avith  doubts  in  respect  to  the 
safety  of  resting  his  hope  upon  them  when  he  came  to 

10 


110  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

die, — much  as  he  may  have  shuddered  from  an  appre- 
hension that  he  was  passing  into  eternity  under  the 
weight  of  the  unbeHever's  condemnation.  But  while  it 
is  conceded  that  even  the  true  Christian  does  not  alioays 
die  in  triumph,  the  infidel  himself  will  scarcely  deny 
that  such  events  are  of  very  frequent  occurrence  ;  that 
in  every  age  the  great  mass  of  the  sincere  and  humble 
followers  of  Christ  have  shown  themselves  courageous 
at  the  last,  and  many  of  them  have  left  the  world  with 
the  language  of  triumph  on  their  lips.  I  point  you  to 
the  naturally  timid  and  sensitive  female,  struggling  in 
her  dying  agony ;  and  ask  you  to  observe  how  even  she, 
unsustained  as  she  is  by  natural  fortitude,  can  meet  the 
king  of  terrors  with  a  smile.  Notice  how  her  eye  kin- 
dles with  animation,  how  her  heart  beats  with  transport, 
how  her  almost  stiffened  tongue  utters  forth  her  Redeem- 
er's praise,  while  her  faith  contemplates  the  "  swelhng 
floods"  as  almost  past,  and  lingers  joyfully  upon  the 
"  sweet  fields"  that  bloom  and  smile  beyond  them.  I  see 
at  her  bed-side  a  husband  and  children,  whom  she  has 
tenderly  loved,  and  whom  she  still  loves  as  tenderly  as 
ever,  whose  tears  are  streaming,  and  whose  hearts  are 
bursting,  at  the  thought  of  the  approaching  separation ; 
but  she  calmly  and  sweetly  blesses  them  in  death,  and 
bids  them  prepare  to  follow  in  the  upward  track  of  her 
triumphant  spirit.  She  dies  with  "  Victory"  upon  her 
lips;  with  "Victory"  in  her  soul;  and  the  moment  of 
her  departure  is  a  moment  of  so  much  ecstacy  that  one 
might  easily  enough  imagine  that  a  tide  of  thrilling  me- 
lody flowed  down  to  earth  from  the  harps  of  the  ran- 
somed, as  the  everlasting  gates  were  lifted  up  to  receive 
the  glorified  spirit.  And  if  this  does  not  suffice  to  illus- 
trate the  triumphs  of  Christianity  in  death,  let  me  con- 
duct you  to  the  martyr's  stake ;  where  all  the  gloomy 


WITH    DEISM.  Ill 

preparation  has  been  made  for  subjecting  not  only  the 
behever's  faith,  but  his  very  body,  to  a  fiery  trial.  You 
see  there  a  man  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  the  same 
nerves  and  sinews,  the  same  susceptibilities  of  bodily  suf- 
fering, with  3^ourself,  standing  still  and  praising  Jesus  in 
the  fire ;  from  the  flames  that  encircle  him  he  testifies 
\vith  an  unearthly  eloquence  to  the  power  of  his  Re- 
deemer's love  and  grace;  and  this  is  the  enrapturing 
theme  upon  which  his  spirit  lingers,  while  its  earthly 
tenement  is  gradually  burning  down,  and  the  angels 
are  waiting  to  bear  it  off  to  Heaven.  Here  is  the  hor- 
rour,  and  here  the  glory,  of  martyrdom.  It  is  Chris- 
tianity that  triumphs  amidst  this  scene  of  torture.  She 
nerves  the  martyr's  arm  that  he  can  hold  it  steadily  in 
the  fire.  She  puts  courage  into  the  martyr's  bosom  that 
he  can  look  calmly  on  the  burning  fagots  which  are  to 
eat  up  his  flesh.  She  inspires  the  martyr's  tongue,  that 
he  can  speak  forth  his  Redeemer's  praises,  till  his  tongue 
has  faltered  in  the  flames.  Deism — I  say  it  with  confi- 
dence— has  no  such  triumphs  to  boast :  these  are  the 
legitimate,  the  peculiar,  triumphs  of  Christianity. 
In  the  review  of  our  subject  we  may  remark, 
1.  What  iinspeakahle  folly  do  they  evince  who  wish 
that  Christianity  inay  not  he  true ! 

And  wherefore  is  it  that  any  indulge  such  a  wish? 
It  is  because  they  have  internal  admonitions  which  they 
cannot  resist,  that  disaster  and  ruin  wait  upon  a  life  of 
sin ;  and  they  foolishly  imagine  that  Christianity  is  the 
author  of  the  terrors  which  they  experience ;  and  that, 
if  they  could  only  be  satisfied  that  her  claims  were  un- 
founded, they  might  give  their  apprehensions  to  the 
winds,  and  sin  without  remorse  and  without  restraint. 
But  never  was  there  a  madder  delusion.  These  inward 
reproaches  and  gloomy  forebodings  which  so  often  wound 


112  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

the  sinner's  peace  and  darken  his  path,  result  from  Na- 
tural Religion :  they  are  the  testimony  of  God  against 
sin  inscribed  upon  man's  moral  nature;  and  though 
Christianity  confirms  the  fact  to  which  this  testimony 
relates, — viz,  that  man  is  a  sinner, — yet  she  is  in  no 
way  responsible  for  it.  If  she  had  never  had  an  exis- 
tence, it  would  have  been  just  as  true  as  it  now  is,  that 
man  has  exposed  liimself  to  the  wrath  of  God ;  and 
conscience  would  sometimes  have  intimated  to  him  dark 
things  in  respect  to  his  destiny.  It  is  Natural  Religion 
then  that  speaks  terror  to  the  sinner :  it  is  the  province 
of  Christianity  to  provide  an  antidote  against  it.  She 
comes  as  a  messenger  of  salvation ;  with  grace  upon 
her  hps,  and  mercy  in  her  heart ;  and  while  she  takes 
for  granted  the  fearful  reality  of  his  condition,  she  offers 
pardon,  deliverance,  everlasting  life.  And  he  that  be- 
lieveth  is  actually  delivered  from  the  shudderings  of 
guilt,  and  is  henceforth  sustained  and  cheered  by  a  living 
hope  of  immortal  glory. 

Do  you  wish,  vain  mortal,  that  Chistianity  may  not 
be  true?  But  are  you  ready  to  encounter  the  conse- 
quences of  its  not  being  true  ?  Are  you  willing  to  be 
left  at  the  mercy  of  Natural  Rehgion,  when  Natural 
Religion  has  nothing  to  proclaim  to  you  but  a  message 
of  wrath?  Are  you  willing  that  the  justice  of  God 
should  take  its  course  in  the  punishment  of  your  trans- 
gressions ?  Are  you  w^iUing  to  sit  down  under  the  gnaw- 
ings  of  the  worm  that  never  dies,  without  any  means  of 
arresting  its  deadly  corrosions  ?  If  not,  then  Christiani- 
ty is  your  only  hope ;  and  in  wishing  that  Christianity 
may  prove  a  fable,  what  better  do  you  than  invoke  upon 
yourself  the  horrours  of  despair  ? 


WITH    DEISM.  113 

2.   How  'preposterous  is  it  to  remain  voluntarily 
undecided  in  respect  to  the  truth  of  Christiafiity ! 

You  do  not  act  thus  in  matters  of  much  less  impor- 
tance. Suppose  you  were  to  be  told,  upon  authority 
which  you  had  no  particular  reason  to  discredit,  that 
some  great  temporal  evil  was  hanging  over  you,  which 
it  was  yet  in  your  power  to  avert  by  the  adoption  of  par- 
ticular measures  which  were  recommended :  or  suppose 
you  were  to  be  told,  upon  the  same  authority,  that  there 
was  a  splendid  estate  to  which  you  were  fairly  entitled, 
and  that  there  could  be  no  question  that  an  examination 
of  the  title  would  instantly  put  you  in  possession  of  it; — 
what,  let  me  ask,  would  be  the  course  which  prudence 
would  dictate  to  you  in  either  of  these  cases  ?  Would 
you  turn  your  back  upon  the  intelligence,  and  say  that 
there  might  or  might  not  be  some  great  evil  hanging 
over  you, — that  there  might  or  might  not  be  some  splen- 
did estate  fairly  belonging  to  you, — you  should  not  give 
yourself  the  trouble  to  inquire  ;  or  would  you  not  rather 
bend  all  your  energies,  if  need  be,  to  satisfy  yourself 
whether  the  information  were  to  be  relied  on  ?  Would 
you  even  rest  so  long  as  there  was  a  doubt  whether  the 
report  of  good  or  of  evil  which  had  reached  you  was 
worthy  of  acceptation  ?  And  would  not  your  anxiety 
to  determine  this  be  heightened  by  the  consideration,  that 
the  information  had  come  to  you  through  a  medium 
which  you  had  no  particular  reason  to  suspect?  Where- 
fore then,  I  ask,  should  you  adopt  a  different  course  in 
respect  to  the  religion  of  Christ  ?  That  comes  to  you 
claiming  to  involve  your  everlasting  interests ;  to  be  the 
grand  remedy  which  Heaven  has  appointed  for  the  dis- 
ease of  your  moral  nature ; — the  only  means  by  which 
you  can  avert  from  yourself  the  horrours  of  an  eternal 
death ;  and  there  is  nothing  connected  with  it  that  should 
10* 


114  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

lead  you  hastily  to  conclude  against  its  divine  authority 
previous  to  an  investigation :  on  the  contrary,  there  is 
this  at  least  in  its  favour, — that  the  great  mass  of  those 
who  have  diligently  examined  it  have  been  entirely  sa- 
tisfied of  its  divine  origin  ;  and  the  wisest  and  best  men 
of  every  age  have  been  found  among  its  advocates.  I 
ask  now,  whether  you  can  justify  it  to  your  Reason,  to 
remain  voluntarily  in  doubt  respecting  the  claims  of 
Christianity  ?  On  the  contrary,  does  not  every  principle 
of  Reason  require  that  you  should  become  decided  at 
once  ?  To  remain  in  doubt  on  a  subject  which  involves 
your  most  momentous  interests,  when  all  the  means  of 
forming  a  decision  are  within  your  reach,  and  when,  by 
your  own  acknowledgment,  a  neglect  to  decide  may 
bring  after  it  remediless  ruin, — what  better  is  it  than  the 
height  of  madness  ? 

If  there  be  any  one  class  upon  whose  consideration  I 
am  more  desirous  of  urging  this  point  than  upon  any 
other,  I  confess  that  class  consists  of  our  young  men.  I 
am  willing  to  believe  that  there  is  not  one  among  you 
all,  who  has  openly  assumed  the  character  of  an  oppo- 
ser  of  Christianity ; — not  one  even  who  harbours  a  set- 
tled though  silent  conviction  that  it  is  a  system  of  impos- 
ture ;  but  I  greatly  mistake  if  there  are  not  those  among 
you  who  have  no  fixed  principles  on  this  subject,  merely 
because  they  have  not  given  themselves  the  trouble  to 
examine  it ; — those  who  are  willing  to  have  the  credit 
of  beheving  the  gospel,  and  yet  have  skepticism  enough 
to  neutraUze  its  legitimate  authority  over  the  heart  and 
conscience.  Now  let  me  tell  you,  so  long  as  you  remain 
in  this  undecided  state,  you  dehberately  jeopard  every 
thing.  If  Christianity  be  true,  your  present  state  in- 
volves a  practical  rejection  of  the  richest  of  all  blessings. 
And  besides,  remember  that  there  is  but  a  single  step 
from  a  state  of  doubt  to  a  state  of  settled  unbelief;  and 


WITH    DEISM.  115 

while  you  are  madly  dreaming  of  a  sort  of  neutrality 
you  may  find  yourself,  even  to  your  own  surprise,  set- 
tled on  infidel  ground.  Rest  not  then,  I  pray  you,  till 
you  have  satisfied  yourself,  even  to  the  getting  rid  of 
the  last  doubt,  whether  the  claims  of  the  gospel  are  to  be 
admitted.  If  the  result  of  a  patient  and  diligent  exami- 
nation be  to  convince  you  that  the  Bible  does  not  con- 
tain a  divine  Revelation,  then  you  may  cast  it  to  the 
winds,  and  walk  in  the  light  of  your  own  Reason  with 
some  shadow  of  consistency :  if  it  be  to  convince  you 
that  it  does  contain  an  authorized  message  from  Heaven, 
then  you  are  bound  to  receive  and  heed  it,  as  you  value 
the  approbation,  and  dread  the  frown,  of  the  King  of 
kings :  but  to  leave  the  question  of  its  divine  origin  un- 
settled, and  especially  to  act  as  if  it  were  not  true,  when 
you  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  true,  were  an 
outrage  upon  Reason  which  no  one  could  defend  in  rela- 
tion to  any  other  subject,  but  at  the  expense  of  being 
considered  a  mad  man. 

Once  more :  What  better  is  he  who  makes  war  upoii 
Christianity  than  the  enemy  of  man  7 

For  is  not  he  your  enemy  who  would  annihilate  your 
best  hopes,  and  bring  suspense  and  despair  in  place  of 
them  ?  Is  not  he  your  enemy  who  would  mock  your 
anxious  inquiries  in  respect  to  the  forgiveness  of  your 
sins ;  who  would  take  from  you  the  only  balm  for  a 
wounded  conscience ;  who  would  dry  up  the  fountain  of 
salvation,  and  cut  you  off  from  every  reasonable  hope 
in  God's  mercy,  and  leave  you  to  the  terrors  of  his  aven- 
ging justice?  Is  not  he  your  enemy  who  Avould  take 
from  beneath  your  head  the  only  pillow  upon  which  you 
can  rest  in  the  day  of  sickness ;  the  only  consolation 
that  can  sustain  you  in  the  hour  of  bereavement,  who 
would  have  you  left  alone  in  your  anguish  when  your 
troubled  heart  pants  for  the  support  of  an  almighty  arm? 


116  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

Is  he  not  your  enemy  who  would  hang  around  your 
death  bed  curtains  of  horrour,  and  chill  the  last  blood 
that  passes  through  your  veins,  and  leave  you  to  the 
monster's  mercy  without  any  means  of  triumphing  in 
the  conflict?  Is  not  he  your  enemy — is  not  he  the 
enemy  of  man,  who  would  seal  up  the  only  fountain  of 
sanctifying  influence,  who  would  open  the  floodgates  of 
immorality  and  crime,  and  shed  the  mildew  of  death 
upon  the  best  hopes  and  interests  of  society  ? 

Yes,  I  repeat,  the  infidel  is  the  enemy  of  man.  He 
is  engaged  in  a  deadly  warfare  against  human  happi- 
ness. In  the  system  which  he  holds  there  is  bound  up 
a  tremendous  curse.  And  I  should  not  obey  the  honest 
dictates  of  my  conscience  to-day,  if  I  were  not  to  cau- 
tion especially  you  who  are  young  to  have  no  fellowship 
with  these  unfruitful  works  of  darkness.  If  you  wish 
to  try  a  mad  experiment,  take  burning  coals  into  your 
bosom,  or  make  your  bed  in  a  den  of  vipers,  or  try  to 
hang  by  a  hair  over  a  frightful  precipice ;  but  oh  ven- 
ture not  upon  an  experiment  so  desperately  hazardous 
as  that  of  holding  communion  with  those  who  oppose 
and  revile  Christianity.  Believe  me,  you  would  jeopard 
far  less  to  associate  with  the  man  who  was  watching  an 
opportunity  to  mingle  poison  with  your  food,  or  plunge 
a  dagger  into  your  bosom  ;  for  while  his  aim  w^ould  be 
only  to  kill  the  body,  they  are  labouring  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  soul.  If  they  will  persist  in  their  mad  ca- 
reer, show  them  that  you  are  not  to  be  taken  in  their 
snares.  If  the  altars  w^hich  they  ha\  e  erected  to  the 
prince  of  darkness  must  continue  to  smoke  with  the 
blood  of  souls,  let  it  not  be  told,  either  in  this  world  or 
any  other,  that  you  are  among  the  victims.  Take  re- 
fuge from  their  wiles  in  a  practical  belief  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ ;  and  then  you  are  safe,  whoever  may  con- 
spire to  effect  your  ruin. 


LECTURE  IV, 


CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH  MOHAMEDISM. 


Romans  i.   16. 
/  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

IN  CONNEXION   WITH 

I  Kings  xiii,   18. 

He  said — /  am  a  'prophet  also — and  an  angel  spake  to 
me  by  the  word  of  the  Lord. — But  he  lied — 

Early  in  the  seventh  century,  there  arose  an  indivi- 
dual in  one  of  the  cities  of  Arabia,  who  formed  the  bold 
project  of  imposing,  first  upon  his  own  countrymen,  and 
ultimately  upon  the  world,  a  new  system  of  religion. 
In  emerging  from  the  obscurity  to  w^hich  Providence 
had  consigned  him  by  the  circumstances  of  his  early 
life,  he  claimed  for  himself  the  exalted  character  of  a 
prophet  of  the  Most  High  God;  and  pretended  that 
through  him  was  communicated  to  the  world  the  last 
and  most  perfect  of  the  divine  revelations.  His  begin- 
ning was  indeed  small ;  for  he  laboured  several  years 
without  obtaining  any  converts  beyond  the  circle  of  his 
near  relatives ;  while  his  pretensions  were  met  by  the 
indignation  of  some,  the  ridicule  of  others,  and  the  un- 


118  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

belief  of  almost  all.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  by  op- 
position, or  discouraged  by  the  want  of  success,  he  per- 
severed in  his  enterprise  till  the  great  mass  of  his  coun- 
trymen, either  through  the  power  of  persuasion  or  at  the 
point  of  the  sword,  had  recognised  his  claim  to  a  divine 
commission,  and  embraced  the  faith  which  he  promul- 
gated. Nay,  the  standard  which  he  had  raised  in  Ara- 
bia, was,  at  no  distant  period,  planted  in  several  of  the 
surrounding  countries :  and  though  death  terminated 
his  career  while  many  of  his  plans  remained  unaccom- 
phshed,  yet  his  cause  did  not  die  with  him :  but  conti- 
nued to  gather  strength  by  fresh  victories,  till  it  had 
gained  to  itself  a  large  portion  of  the  Eastern  world. 
He  who,  at  the  end  of  the  first  few  years  of  his  experi- 
ment, was  almost  universally  ridiculed  as  a  fanatic,  or 
detested  as  an  impostor,  was,  within  less  than  a  century 
from  that  time,  hailed  by  whole  nations  as  God's  last 
Messenger,  and  man's  best  Benefactor;  and  now,  after 
the  lapse  of  more  than  eleven  hundred  years,  the  system 
which  he  introduced  has  lost  none  of  its  power  over  the 
nations  wliich  have  received  it,  and  is  actually  at  this 
hour  the  religion  of  about  one  tenth  of  the  population  of 
the  globe.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  indi- 
vidual to  whom  I  refer  is  Mohamed. 

Whoever  is  at  all  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
war  against  Christianity,  as  it  has  been  carried  on  by 
infidels  for  the  last  two  centuries,  must  be  aware  how 
much  they  have  triumphed  in  the  supposed  parallelism 
between  the  religion  of  Christ  and  that  of  Mohamed, 
in  respect  to  the  rapidity  and  extent  of  their  early  pro- 
pagation. And  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  is 
something  in  this  parallelism  which  is  adapted,  at  first 
view,  to  startle  an  unreflecting  mind ;  ihough,  if  the 
feeling  of  anxiety  which  is  thus  created  be  analyzed,  it 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  119 

will  always  be  found  to  originate  in  the  false  impression 
that  success  is  the  test  of  truth.  In  contrasting  the  two 
systems,  as  I  am  about  to  do  in  this  discourse,  I  shall 
hope  to  show  you  that  they  have  but  little  in  common ; 
that,  while  there  is  every  thing  in  Mohamedism  to 
stamp  it  with  a  mere  earthly  character,  there  is  every 
thing  in  Christianity  to  indicate  its  divine  original ;  that 
the  latter  rises  to  a  higher  degree  of  glory,  and  the  for- 
mer sinks  to  a  deeper  degradation,  as  they  are  contem- 
plated in  the  light  of  each  other. 

Let  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  the  i^eligion  of  Mo- 
hamed  then  he  coiitrasted^  in  respect  to 

I.  The  grounds  of  their  authority: 

II.  The  means  of  their  propagation: 

III.  The  characters  of  their  founders; 

IV.  Their  influence  on  the  world. 

I.  The  grounds  of  their  author [ty. 

1.  Mohamedism  makes  no  serious  pretensions  to 
miracles :  Christianity  appeals  to  rniracles  of  a  most 
decisive  character. 

If  we  suppose  God  to  have  commissioned  any  indivi- 
dual to  publish  to  the  world  truths  which  had  before 
been  hidden  from  it,  or  to  confirm  and  illustrate  those 
which  had  been  obscurely  revealed,  it  were  reasonable 
to  expect  that  he  would  enable  him  to  give  some  satis- 
factory proof  of  his  divine  commission  :  and  it  is  not 
easy  to  conceive  of  any  proof  more  satisfactory  than 
must  result  from  the  performance  of  miracles.  Suppose, 
if  you  will,  that  we  had  no  decisive  evidence  that  God's 
revelations  to  the  world  are  yet  closed,  and  that  some 
individual  were  to  stand  forth,  at  the  present  da}^,  claim- 
ing to  be  an  authorized  messenger  from  Heaven,  who 
had  come  to  introduce  a  new  dispensation, — he  surely 


120  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

would  have  no  right  to  expect  that  his  extraordinary 
pretensions  would  be  admitted  witliout  evidence:  but 
suppose  he  were  to  show  himself  in  the  act  of  putting 
forth  a  miraculous  energy  ; — suppose,  at  his  bidding,  the 
dumb  should  speak,  and  the  Wind  see,  and  the  dead 
live,  and  the  tempest  die  away  into  a  calm, — should  we 
not  be  obliged  to  say,  '  This  man  must  be  what  he 
claims  to  be ;  for  verily  he  could  not  do  these  mighty 
works  unless  God  were  with  him.  And  as  God  cannot 
deny  himself  by  lending  his  power  to  the  aid  of  impos- 
ture, it  is  impossible  but  that  the  doctrine  which  he  in- 
culcates must  be  true.'  Though  miracles  can  only 
prove  the  truth  of  any  doctrine,  or  system  of  doctrine, 
indirectly,  by  proving  the  divine  mission  of  Him  who 
introduces  it,  yet  the  evidence  which  they  furnish,  as 
making  an  appeal  not  only  to  the  judgment  and  feel- 
ings, but  the  very  senses,  is  perhaps  the  highest  of  which 
the  nature  of  the  subject  is  susceptible. 

But,  I  repeat,  this  is  a  species  of  evidence  which  Mo- 
hamedism  has  never  seriously  pretended  to  claim.  It 
is  true  that  the  founder  of  the  system  did  pretend  to  have 
received  frequent  communications  from  the  angel  Ga- 
briel, and  to  have  journeyed  in  the  course  of  a  single 
night  from  Mecca  to  Jerusalem,  and  thence  to  Heaven ; 
and  some  have  imagined  that  this  was  an  artifice  to  sa- 
tisfy the  expectations  of  those  who  demanded  some  mi- 
racle as  a  proof  of  his  mission  ;  but  be  this  as  it  might, 
the  story  is  too  absurd  to  admit  of  a  sober  refutation. 
The  only  miracle  which  Mohamed  seems  ever  to  have 
claimed,  or  his  disciples  to  have  claimed  for  him,  or  ra- 
ther that  which  they  regarded  as  a  substitute  for  all  mi- 
racles, was  the  Koran  :  here  thej^  maintained  was  to  be 
found  the  perfection  of  moral  sublimity  and  beauty ; — 
every  thing  that  could  be  desired  to  mark  the  signature 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  121 

of  Heaven.  Without  insisting  upon  the  fact  that  it 
would  be,  to  say  the  least,  an  extremely  difficult  matter 
to  decide  what  amount  of  sublimity  of  thought  and  ele- 
gance of  style  would,  of  themselves,  entitle  any  compo- 
sition to  be  considered  as  divinely  inspired,  I  shall  here 
take  for  granted, — reserving  the  proof  for  a  subsequent 
part  of  the  discourse, — that  even,  on  this  ground,  the 
claims  of  the  Koran  are  at  once  unreasonable  and  arro- 
gant. I  do  not  say  that  the  Koran  is  destitute  of  these 
qualities ;  but  before  we  admit  them  as  evidence  of  its 
divine  inspiration,  we  must  at  least  inquire  how  they 
came  to  belong  to  it,  and  with  what  other  quahties  they 
are  associated.  And  even  if  it  had  been  all  that  is 
claimed  for  it,  it  would  not  have  been  ,a  miracle,  nor 
could  it  have  stood  in  place  of  miracles. 

Christianity  claims  miracles  of  the  most  unexception- 
able kind,  and  sustained  by  evidence  which  it  is  impos- 
sible successfully  to  gainsay.  When  Jesus  entered  upon 
his  ministry,  and  began  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  the 
kingdom,  he  began  at  the  same  time  to  perform  those 
mighty  works  which  stamped  his  commission  with  the 
seal  of  divine  authority.  Though  he  was  never  prodi- 
gal of  his  miraculous  power,  never  employed  it  for  pur- 
poses to  which  it  was  not  necessary,  yet  so  frequently 
was  it  brought  into  exercise,  that  the  visible  controlling 
of  the  powers  of  nature  seemed  to  be  his  every  day  em- 
ployment. And  while  his  miracles  were  as  numerous 
as  the  highest  increduhty  could  have  demanded,  they 
were  performed  in  circumstances  the  most  unfavourable 
to  imposture ; — in  the  broad  light  of  day ;  often  in  the 
presence  of  many  witnesses,  and  of  those  too  who  were 
most  interested  to  disprove  his  claims ;  not  to  say  that 
the  miracles  themselves  were  generally  of  such  a  nature 
as  no  impostor  would  have  dared  to  attempt  to  imitate, 

11 


122  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

They  were  also  of  the  most  beneficent  tendency; — 
were  directed  to  the  supply  of  human  wants,  and  the 
rehef  of  human  wo ; — were  worthy  in  all  respects  of 
him,  the  design  of  whose  mission  into  the  world  was  to 
seek  and  save  that  which  is  lost.  And  finally,  they 
were  performed  without  any  of  that  ostentatious  parade 
with  which  imposture  is  so  apt  to  surround  itself :  the 
pouring  of  light  upon  the  path  of  the  blind,  the  waking 
up  of  the  dead  from  the  sleep  of  the  sepulchre,  the  as- 
suaging of  the  elements  when  they  were  wrought  into  a 
tempest,  was  each  effected  by  the  same  easy  and  natural 
exertion  of  power,  with  which  he  performed  the  most 
common  actions  of  life.  In  short  it  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive of  any  thing  which  could  have  given  additional 
strength  to  the  evidence  that  the  miracles  of  Jesus  were 
the  eflfect  of  a  divine  power  dwelUng  in  him. 

But,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  remark  in  a  previous 
discourse,  the  miracles  which  our   Lord  himself  per- 
formed, are  not  the  only  ones  which  Christianity  can 
claim  ;  for  when  he  left  the  world,  and  left  his  religion 
in  the  keeping  of  his  disciples,  he  left  with  them  the  pow- 
er of  proving  their  commission  as  he  had  proved  his  own . 
And  scarcely  had  he  ascended  to  Heaven  before  a  signal 
exhibition  of  this  power  was  witnessed  in  the  wonderful 
scenes  of  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  when  they  found  them- 
-selves  able  to  adapt  their  ministrations  to  the  multitude 
of  foreigners  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  by  speak- 
ing a  variety  of  languages  which  they  had  never  learned- 
And  subsequently,  through  the  whole  course  of  their  mi- 
nistry, this  extraordinary  power  continued  with  them ; 
and  on  no  other  principle  can  we  account  for  the  success 
which  attended  their  labours.     They  went  forth  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  and  proving  by  their  mighty  works  that 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  123 

they  were  divinely  commissioned,  and  therefore  thai 
what  they  preached  was  the  truth  of  God. 

Does  any  one  question  the  integrity  of  the  Apostles, 
and  say  that  their  pretended  miracles  were  founded  in 
imposture  ?  I  answer,  how  came  these  miracles  then  lo 
produce  such  mighty  effect  on  minds  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  where  there  was  the  best  opportunity  of  ascer- 
taining their  true  character  ?  How  came  these  men  to 
enlist  in  a  cause  which  they  must  have  known,  if  they 
had  been  impostors,  would  have  been  ruinous  to  them- 
selves ;  and  to  persevere  in  it,  with  the  certain  prospeci 
of  no  other  temporal  reward  than  the  sacrifice  of  ever\ 
earthly  good  ?  And  how  came  it  to  pass  that  the  most 
active  and  malignant  enemies  of  Christianity,  both 
among  Jews  and  Gentiles,  never  called  in  question  the 
existence  of  these  miracles,  but  set  themselves  to  account 
for  them  on  principles  which  took  for  granted  their  rea- 
lity ?  The  very  supposition  of  imposture  is  a  contra- 
diction of  the  first  principles  of  Reason,  and  involves  the 
grossest  absurdity. 

2.  Mohamedism  prete?ids  to  jji^ophecies  ;  hut  her 
'pretensions  are  destitute  even  of  ptausibility  :  Chris- 
tianity apj)eals  to  ijrojyhecies  of  the  most  wiexception- 
ahle  character. 

Some  of  the  followers  of  Mohamed  have  professed  to 
believe  that  certain  prophecies  of  scripture  point  to  him 
as  a  great  and  illustrious  prophet ;  but  this  is  claiming 
more  for  him,  on  the  score  of  prophecy,  than  he  ever 
ventured  to  claim  for  himself  He  did  indeed  assert  that 
the  scriptures,  in  their  original  and  uncorrupted  form, 
abounded  with  predictions  of  the  glory  of  his  character 
and  tlie  greatness  of  his  dominion  ;  but  he  maintained 
that  these  predictions  had  all  been  expunged  from  the 
original  record,  owing  to  the  extreme  jealousy  which  had 


124  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

prevailed,  both  among  Jews  and  Christians,  in  the  anti- 
cipation of  his  reign.  The  only  evidence  upon  which 
this  alleged  fact  is  given  to  the  world  is  his  own  declara- 
tion ;  but  who  can  contemplate  the  case  for  a  moment, 
without  perceiving  the  impossibility  of  such  an  occur- 
rence ?  For  how  could  so  remarkable  a  fact  have  taken 
place, — a  fact  in  which  such  vast  multitudes  were  most 
deeply  interested,  and  yet  not  a  vestige  of  tradition  re- 
main respecting  it  ?  Besides,  this  fact  supposes  that  all 
the  copies  of  the  scriptures  in  existence  had  been  cor- 
rupted ; — but  how  was  this  consistent  with  the  reverence 
with  w^iich  the  Jews  regarded  every  word  and  letter  of 
their  inspired  books,  or  with  the  watchful  jealousy  which 
Jews  and  Christians  constantly  cherished  towards  each 
other  ?  We  do  not  deny  that  Mohamed  and  his  religion 
are  the  subject  of  prophecy,  at  least  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  character  of  a  false  prophet, 
and  a  false  religion,  that  they  are  exhibited  ;  and  to  sup- 
pose that  any  other  character  was  ever  attributed  to  him. 
or  to  his  system,  in  the  prophetical  scriptures,  w^ere  at 
least  "  an  enormous  tax  upon  human  credulity." 

Christianity  is  sustained,  not  by  a  single  insulated  pre- 
diction, or  a  few  scattered  predictions,  of  doubtful  cha- 
racter, but  by  a  whole  system  of  prophecies  extended 
continuously  through  several  thousand  years.  With  the 
very  sentence  of  condemnation  which  succeeded  man's 
original  apostacy,  was  joined  the  promise  of  a  Saviour ; — 
a  promise  which,  however  obscurely  expressed,  was  still 
clear  enough  to  be  apprehended  by  those  for  whom  it 
was  more  immediately  designed  :  and  that  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  corner  stone  of  a  mighty  fabric k  which 
gradually  grew  up  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty, 
till  its  summit  was  lost  in  the  Heavens.  Under  the  pa- 
triarchal dispensation,  Christ  was  frequently,  in  some 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  125 

form  or  other,  the  subject  of  prophecy ;  and  by  this 
means  the  faith  of  the  patriarchs  was  kept  aUve  in  a 
Saviour  to  come.  From  the  introduction  of  the  Mosaic 
economy,  the  predictions  respecting  him  became  more 
frequent  and  more  clear  ;  and  there  was  a  distinct  order 
of  men  quahfied  by  a  supernatural  communion  with 
Heaven  to  make  known  the  divine  will  in  respect  to  fu- 
turity; and  these  revelations,  which  occupy  no  small 
part  of  the  ancient  scriptures,  almost  all  relate,  either  im- 
mediately or  remotely,  to  Jesus  Christ.  Here  you  will 
find  his  life,  his  death,  his  resurrection,  his  ascension,  his 
intercession,  his  whole  mediatorial  work,  described  with 
such  minute  accuracy,  that  when  you  read  the  corre- 
sponding history  in  the  New  Testament,  you  read  httle 
but  what  you  have  already  found  in  the  form  of  prophe- 
cy in  the  Old.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
many  of  the  great  events  of  scripture,  and  particularly 
the  whole  typical  economy,  had  all  the  force  of  predic- 
tions respecting  Messiah  and  his  kingdom.  Indeed  any 
interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  which  does  not  re- 
cognise Christ  as  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  its  reve- 
lations, every  thing  else  being  subordinate  to  this  great 
subject,  would  indicate,  to  say  the  least,  a  most  unenvi- 
able facility  at  wresting  the  scriptures. 

I  might  say  too  that  Jesus  was  not  only  the  subject  of 
prophecy,  but  was  himself,  in  the  strictest  sense,  a  pro- 
phet. Witness  his  memorable  predictions  in  respect  to 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  profane  writers,  had  a  most  exact  accom- 
plishment. And  his  beloved  disciple  to  whom  he  im- 
parted the  gift  of  prophecy,  after  his  ascension,  disclosing 
to  him  his  own  secret  purposes  as  Head  of  the  Church, 
has  given  to  the  world  a  book  which  contains  a  com- 
pendious account  of  all  that  is  to  be ; — a  book  over  which 
11* 


126  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

a  vail  is  even  now,  to  some  extent,  drawn,  but  wliich  is 
becoming  more  clear  with  the  lapse  of  ages,  and  is  des- 
tined ere  long,  as  every  thing  indicates,  to  receive  a  full 
interpretation  from  the  Providence  of  God.  Who  that 
is  capable  of  estimating  evidence  will  doubt  that  to 
Christianity  belongs  the  Spirit  of  Prophecy  ;  inasmuch 
as  all  its  leading  facts  w^ere  the  subject  of  the  most  une- 
quivocal predictions,  and  as  its  great  Author  not  only 
possessed  this  Spirit  himself,  but  imparted  it  also  to 
others  ? 

3.  The  Koran  hears  no  interiial  marks  of  being  a 
divine  revelation :  the  Bible  exhibits  evidence  of  this 
which  is  overwhelming. 

Observe  the  contrast  which  the  two  present  in  respect 
to  internal  consistency.  The  Koran  is  inconsistent  with 
itself ;  here  representing  the  character  of  God  in  the 
subUmity  and  majesty  which  really  belong  to  it,  and 
there  attributing  to  it  quahties  which  would  debase  the 
character  of  a  human  being ;  on  one  page  recommend- 
ing and  enjoining  the  practice  of  the  moral  virtues,  on 
another  inculcating  principles  whose  legitimate  operation 
is  to  create  a  thirst  for  tyranny  and  blood.  It  is  incon- 
sistent also  with  precedi7ig  revelations^  which  it  pro- 
fesses to  acknowledge : — not  to  specify  other  particulars, 
it  denies  that  fundamental  fact  in  the  New  Testament 
history — the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  maintains 
that  the  whole  scene  of  his  supposed  crucifixion  was 
merely  a  delusion.  The  Bible,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
perfectly  consistent ; — the  New  Testament  with  the  old, 
and  each  part  with  every  other  part.  All  its  doctrines 
and  precepts,  its  predictions  and  histories,  perfectly  ac- 
cord with  each  other,  and  go  to  constitute  a  magnificent 
system,  in  which  the  most  critical  eye  can  detect  no  dis- 
proportion.    I  do  not  say  indeed  that  the  superficial  stu- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  127 

dent  of  the  Bible  may  not  fancy  that  he  sometimes  finds 
contradictions ;  but  let  him  apply  himself  with  docility, 
and  humility,  and  diligence,  and  he  will  find  his  difil- 
culties  gradually  clearing  away  ;  and  will  be  struck  with 
the  fact  that,  not  only  many  of  those  passages  which, 
at  first  view,  seemed  inconsistent  with  each  other,  are  in 
perfect  harmony,  but  that  out  of  that  harmony  arises 
the  most  satisfying  evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
entire  scriptures. 

One  circumstance  which  gives  additional  force  to  this 
point  of  the  contrast  between  the  Koran  and  the  Bible, 
is  the  manner  in  which  they  were  respectively  given  to 
the  world.  The  former  was  all  professedly  revealed  to 
one  person,  within  the  short  space  of  twenty-three  years : 
the  latter,  to  many  persons,  in  different  countries,  and  at 
various  periods,  through  the  long  space  of  nearly  the 
same  number  of  centuries.  One  might  suppose  that  it 
would  be  a  comparatively  easy  matter  for  an  individu- 
al,— especially  one  who  claimed  to  be  divinely  inspired, 
to  write  a  book  which  should  at  least  be  consistent  with 
itself;  but  that  so  many  individuals  as  were  concerned 
in  writing  the  Bible,  educated  at  different  periods  and 
under  different  influences,  and  Avriting  in  different  coun- 
tries and  even  under  different  religious  dispensations, 
should  have  concurred  in  producing  a  book  between 
whose  various  parts  there  is  no  real  discrepancy,  must 
be  allowed  at  least  to  constitute  an  anomaly  in  hu- 
man experience.  Under  these  circumstances  would  it 
not  be  reasonable  to  expect,  on  principles  of  mere  hu- 
man calculation,  that  the  Koran  would  exhibit  far  great- 
er internal  consistency  than  the  Bible  ?  And  yet  pre- 
cisely the  reverse  of  this  is  true : — the  Bible  is  all  con- 
sistency ;  the  Koran  abounds  with  contradiction. 


128  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

Not  less  striking  is  the  contrast  in  the  moral  tenden- 
cy of  these  two  books.  That  the  Koran  contains  much 
which  is  unexceptionable  and  excellent  I  have  akeady 
admitted ;  particularly  some  of  the  views  which  it  pre- 
sents of  the  divine  character  are  adapted  to  exert  an  ele- 
vating influence :  but  then  there  are  other  parts  of  it 
whose  tendency  is,  in  the  highest  degree,  degrading: 
and,  on  the  whole,  it  is  fitted  to  corrupt  and  brutalize, 
rather  than  pmify  and  exalt.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
gross  and  grovelling  representations  of  the  divine  cha- 
racter which  are  strangely  mixed  with  much  that  we  can- 
not fail  to  approve, — the  views  which  it  presents  of  Hea- 
ven are  adapted,  above  any  thing  else  we  can  imagine, 
to  sensualize  the  whole  man.  And  then  the  course  of 
conduct  of  which  Heaven  was  to  be  the  reward,  though 
it  was  worthy  enough  of  the  reward  which  was  pro- 
mised, was  a  violation  of  the  first  dictates  of  Natural 
Religion.  He  who  was  most  bold  and  desperate  in  fight- 
ing the  battles  of  Mohamed,  and  in  exterminating  those 
who  should  oppose  his  reign,  was  encouraged  to  expect 
the  highest  enjoyments  of  his  sensual  paradise.  And 
the  moral  precepts  of  the  Koran  partake  of  the  same 
character  with  its  doctrines ; — some  of  them  indeed  such 
as  Reason  and  Scripture  approve,  but  others  justifying, 
and  even  inculcating,  the  most  vicious  indulgences.  It 
were  not  possible  indeed  for  any  individual  to  become  in 
all  respects  what  the  Koran  requires,  because  it  requires 
things  which  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  each  other ; 
but  no  one  who  reads  it  impartially,  can  doubt  that,  on  the 
whole,  it  falls  in  with  the  corrupt  tendencies  of  the  hu- 
man heart.  But  the  influences  of  the  Bible,  are  all  pure, 
benign,  elevated.  The  views  which  it  presents  of  the 
character  of  God,  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments, and  above  all  of  the  work  of  redemption  by 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  129 

Jesus  Christ,  when  practically  received,  are  all  fitted  to 
cast  the  soul  into  a  heavenly  mould.  In  all  that  it  re- 
quires, and  in  all  that  it  forbids,  it  is  in  full  accordance 
with  the  dictates  of  enlightened  Reason  ;  and  he  who 
conforms  most  closely  to  its  requisitions,  approaches  most 
nearly  to  the  perfection  of  moral  excellence. 

The  Koran  makes  its  highest  pretensions  on  the  score 
of  beauty  and  sublimity  ;  but  even  here  it  admits  not 
of  comparison  with  the  scriptures.  I  do  not  deny  that 
it  contains  some  fine  passages ; — that  there  are  scattered 
through  it  noble  conceptions  put  forth  in  beautifully  ap- 
propriate language  ;  but  I  maintain,  and  I  am  sure  that 
every  person  who  candidly  examines  it  must  admit,  that, 
in  every  thing  which  it  has  not  derived  from  the  Bible, 
it  is  greatly  inferior  to  the  Bible ;  and  not  only  so,  but  it 
contains  much  that  is  superlatively  grovelling  and  ridi- 
culous. The  scriptures,  on  the  other  hand,  are  always 
dignified ;  and  they  contain  innumerable  specimens  of 
eloquent  composition,  compared  with  which  the  finest 
specimens  in  the  Koran  which  are  not  immediately  bor- 
rowed from  scripture,  are  only  as  the  glimmering  of  twi- 
light to  the  brightness  of  noon-day.  In  reading  the 
Koran,  while  you  find  much  to  awaken  admiration,  you 
find  not  less  to  excite  disgust ;  but  in  reading  the  Bible, 
you  are  never  shocked  by  a  transition  from  what  is  beau- 
tiful and  majestic  to  what  is  gross  and  insipid.  You 
are  always  in  the  region  of  perspicuous  statements,  splen- 
did conceptions,  or  beautiful  illustrations. 

And  finally  under  this  article,  the  Koran  is  little  more 
than  a  mere  compilation^  while  the  Bible  possesses  in 
the  highest  degree  the  merit  of  originality.  Whatever 
is  truly  great  and  excellent  in  the  Koran,  you  may  trace 
directly  to  the  sacred  scriptures ;  and  you  will  always 
find  that,  just  in  proportion  as  the  original  sentiment  or 


130  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

language  is  modified,  the  beauty  and  force,  either  of 
the  thought  or  expression,  is  diminished.  Beside  the 
copious  extracts  which  it  has  made  from  the  Bible, 
it  has  drawn  largely  from  the  Talmudical  legends 
of  the  Jews,  from  the  Apocryphal  Gospels  which  were 
then  cuxulating  among  the  Christians  of  the  East,  and 
from  the  absurd  and  ridiculous  fables  which  were  cur- 
rent among  the  idolaters  of  Arabia.  The  materials 
collected  from  these  several  sources  seem  to  have  been 
thrown  together  without  even  an  attempt  at  order: 
and  the  result  is  palmed  upon  the  world  as  an  origi- 
nal revelation  from  Heaven.  But  to  what  source,  let 
me  ask,  will  you  trace  any  thing  that  you  find  in  the 
Bible,  other  than  that  from  which  it  professes  to  have 
been  derived  ?  When  some  portions  of  this  book  were 
written,  there  were  heathen  writers  of  distinguished 
name  in  existence,  some  of  whose  productions  have 
come  down  to  us  as  the  glory  of  Pagan  antiquity  :  but 
who  can  compare  the  writings  of  David  or  Isaiah  with 
the  most  splendid  Pagan  models,  without  perceiving  that 
the  former  are  infinitely  unlike,  infinitely  superior  to,  tlie 
latter  ?  Even  the  most  learned  and  wary  enemies  of 
the  Bible  have  never  yet  adduced  a  particle  of  e\ddence 
that  those  by  whom  it  was  penned  were  chargeable  with 
plagiarism  ;  and  I  may  safely  say  that,  after  all  the  ef- 
forts to  prove  this  that  ever  can  be  made,  it  will  still 
stand  forth  to  the  world  with  the  merit  of  the  highest 
possible  originality. 

We  proceed  to  the  next  general  point  of  contrast  be- 
tween the  two  systems — viz : 

II.  The  means  op  their  propagation. 

1.  Mohamedism  was  introduced  at  a  period  wheii 
every  thing  in  the  state  of  the  ivorld  loas  favourable 
to  its  extension:  Christianity,  at  a  period  when  the 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  131 

state  of  the  world  opposed  the  greatest  obstacles  to  its 
success. 

Mohamedism  was  greatly  assisted  in  its  introduction 
by  the  deplorable  state  of  the  Christian  church.  As 
early  as  the  second  century,  commenced,  in  a  very  per- 
ceptible degree,  the  departure  from  the  simplicity  that  is 
in  Christ ;  and  long  before  the  rise  of  Mohamed,  the 
primitive  glory  of  the  church  had  become  entirely  ob- 
scured, and  in  place  of  it  had  come  a  deluge  of  ignorance, 
errour,  superstition  and  iniquity.  The  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  were  completely  buried  under  a  mass  of  metaphy- 
sical jargon.  Its  precepts  were  entirely  lost  sight  of,  its 
spirit  seemed  absolutely  annihilated,  in  the  fierce  conten- 
tions which  were  carried  on  about  matters  which  never 
could  be  settled,  and  if  they  could  have  been,  were  of  no 
practical  moment.  Its  institutions  had  been  so  fright- 
fully moulded  by  the  hand  of  superstition,  that  every 
original  feature  of  beauty  or  usefulness  had  disappeared ; 
and  instead  of  the  simple  rites  which  the  Master  had 
instituted,  there  was  a  cumbrous  load  of  ceremonies  to 
be  endured,  equally  intolerable  for  its  weight,  and  ridi- 
culous for  its  absurdity.  Both  learning  and  piety  had 
become  nearly  extinct ;  and  the  little  that  remained  was 
immured  chiefly  in  the  cells  of  the  monks,  and  shed 
scarcely  any  benign  influence  upon  the  world.  So  pro- 
found  was  the  ignorance  even  of  the  bishops  themselves, 
that  they  were  incapable  of  writing  the  sermons  which, 
by  their  office,  they  were  occasionally  obliged  to  preach. 
And  it  had  been  well  if  nothing  worse  than  ignorance 
could  have  been  laid  to  their  charge ;  but  their  whole 
conduct  evinced  not  only  an  utter  destitution  of  the  spirit 
of  piety,  but  the  prevalence  in  no  common  degree,  and 
in  its  most  odious  forms,  of  the  spirit  of  the  world.  In- 
deed it  is  not  easy  to  draw  a  picture  so  dark  that  it  shall 


132  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

be  an  exaggerated  representation  of  the  deplorable  state 
of  the  Christian  church  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century. 

You  will  readily  perceive  that  all  this  was  favourable 
to  the  success  of  Mohamed.  Had  Christianity  shone 
out  upon  the  world  in  her  native  simplicity  and  with  all 
her  primitive  attractions,  she  would  have  shed  around 
her  a  light  which  would  have  exposed  the  odious  fea- 
tures of  his  system,  so  that  it  would  have  been  crushed 
in  the  very  first  attempt  to  introduce  it.  She  would 
have  had  within  herself  a  power  over  the  understand- 
ings, and  consciences,  and  hearts,  of  men,  which  would 
have  effectually  prevented  their  being  drawn  away  by 
the  arts  of  fanatical  imposture.  But  in  view  of  the  cor- 
rupted form  in  which  Christianity  then  existed,  Moha- 
med might,  with  some  show  of  reason  urge  upon  his 
countrymen  the  adoption  of  another  system.  He  might 
point  to  the  vain  and  yet  bitter  controversies  by  which 
the  Christian  church  was  continually  distracted,  to  the 
mass  of  absurd  and  foolish  ceremonies  by  which  it  was 
encumbered,  to  the  strifes  for  pre-eminence  which  were 
constantly  going  forward  among  the  higher  orders  of  ec- 
clesiastics, to  the  spirit  of  pride,  and  animosity,  and  de- 
traction, which  every  where  prevailed,  as  evidence  that 
a  new  religion  was  demanded ;  and  each  of  these  me- 
lancholy features  in  the  state  of  the  church  was  adapted 
to  facihtate  its  introduction.  Mohamed  artfully  availed 
himself  of  all  these  circumstances,  to  aid  in  carrying 
forward  his  enterprise ;  and  if  these  facilities  had  not 
existed,  we  may  safely  say  that  his  enterprise  never 
could  have  succeeded. 

And  while  there  was  so  much  in  the  general  state  of 
the  Christian  church  to  favour  the  introduction  of  Mo- 
hamedism,  there  was  a  powerful  concurrent  influence  to 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  133 

the  same  end  from  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  condi- 
tion of  Arabia.  The  Arabians  were,  at  that  time,  as 
they  have  been  since,  for  the  most  part,  an  ignorant  peo- 
ple ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Mecca — the  city  where  Mo- 
hamed  first  promulgated  his  system — were  distinguished 
in  this  respect  even  above  the  rest  of  their  countrymen  : 
of  course,  as  ignorance  is  always  favourable  to  the  suc- 
cess of  imposture,  Mohamed  must  have  found  in  this  a 
powerful  auxiliary  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes. 
Besides,  there  was  no  one  religious  system  which  greatly 
prevailed  above  others ;  but  the  inhabitants  were  divided 
between  Judaism,  Christianity  and  Idolatry;  the  two 
former  being  of  course  greatly  corrupted,  and  the  latter 
nothing  better  than  a  system  of  mere  corruption.  Had 
the  Arabians  generally  been  united  in  any  one  of  these 
systems,  however  corrupt  it  might  have  been,  no  doubt 
they  would  have  successfully  resisted  the  pretensions  of 
Mohamed  ;  but  as  union  is  strength,  so  disunion  is  weak- 
ness ;  and  hence  the  resistance  which  they  made  was 
comparatively  feeble.  And  the  same  remark  applies  to 
the  civil,  as  to  the  religious,  state  of  the  country :  Had 
the  inhabitants  all  been  united  under  a  single  govern- 
ment, it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  have  thrown 
Mohamed  and  his  system  at  once  beyond  the  hope  of 
success  ;  but  Arabia  was,  at  that  time,  the  seat  of  many 
different  governments,  between  which  there  prevailed 
no  small  degree  of  hostility ;  and  hence  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  united  action  against  a  common  enemy. 
Even  after  Mohamed  had  made  some  progress  in  his 
daring  enterprise,  if  they  could  have  risen  in  the  ma- 
jesty of  a  united  people,  they  might  have  thrown  off 
the  yoke  which  they  were  then  receiving,  and  have 
crushed  the  pretender  in  the  dust.  But  there  was  no 
union  among  them ;   and  Mohamed  saw  this,  and 

12 


134 


CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 


turned  it  to  the  best  account  in  uniting  them  under  his 
own  bloody  sceptre. 

Thus,  whether  we  consider  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  Christian  church,  or  the  distracted  religious  and  po- 
litical state  of  Arabia,  at  the  period  of  the  introduction 
of  Mohamedism,  we  are  brought  to  the  conclusion  that 
every  thing  in  the  general  state  of  the  world  was  fa- 
vourable to  its  establishment. 

Now  glance,  for  a  moment,  at  the  condition  of  the 
world  when  Christianity  was  introduced,  and  see  what 
mighty  obstacles  there  were  to  her  success ; — obstacles 
which  must  have  been  entirely  insuperable,  by  any  arts 
of  imposture,  or  any  energy  distinct  from  Omnipotence. 
The  period,  you  will  recollect,  was  one  in  which  the  in- 
tellectual firmament  was  most  thickly  studded  with  the 
lights  of  Learning  and  Philosophy.  It  was  amidst  all 
the  glories  of  the  Augustan  age,  when  Vii'gil's  muse  had 
but  just  become  silent,  and  Tully's  voice  had  scarcely 
died  away  in  the  Senate  House,  and  a  host  of  illustrious 
orators  and  philosophers  had  lifted  Rome  to  her  highest 
pitch  of  glory,  that  Christianity  stood  forth  before  the 
world,  claiming  to  be  a  Religion  from  Heaven.  Do  you 
not  perceive  at  once  that  this  was  just  the  most  unpro- 
pitious  time  which  an  impostor  could  have  chosen  for 
the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes?  It  was  a  time 
when  nothing  new  would  be  received  without  diligent 
inquiry  ;  and  especially  when  nothing  that  purported  to 
involve  the  highest  interests  of  man  could  be  admitted, 
till  its  claims  were  fully  examined.  Yes,  Christiani- 
ty, in  her  very  infancy,  was  brought  into  the  broad  bright 
light  of  the  most  intellectual  age  which  the  world  has 
ever  seen ;  and  we  may  confidently  appeal  to  the  fact 
that  she  endured  that  test,  as  evidence  that  there  was  no 
test  which  she  could  not  endure. 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  135 

And  then  look  at  the  religious  state  of  the  world,  and 
see  how  every  thing  thei'e  also  conspired  to  oppose  the 
introduction  of  Christianity.  The  Jetvs  had  indeed  so 
far  understood  their  own  prophecies,  that  they  were  at 
that  time  looking  earnestly  for  a  Messiah ;  but  they  had 
also  so  far  perverted  them,  that  they  expected  nothing 
more  in  him  than  a  temporal  Prince.  It  had  been  with 
their  nation  the  dream  of  ages  that  when  Messiah  should 
come,  he  would  deliver  them  from  the  ignoble  bondage 
into  which  they  were  cast,  and  exalt  them  at  once  to 
national  greatness  and  glory ;  and  no  expectation  could, 
more  effectually  than  this,  have  prepared  them  for  an 
indignant  rejection  of  the  claims  of  Jesus.  In  addition 
to  this,  they  had  become  more  degenerate  perhaps  than 
at  almost  any  preceding  period  of  their  history ;  had  not 
only  grossly  corrupted  the  doctrines  of  their  religion,  and 
converted  it  into  what  was  little  better  than  a  system 
of  mere  senseless  observances,  but  they  had  become  pro- 
portionably  lax  in  their  morality,  and  were  not  prevented 
by  shame,  or  remorse,  or  any  other  principle,  from  the 
most  open  and  flagrant  outrages  of  the  divine  law ; — 
all  which  must  of  course  have  greatly  disinclined  them 
to  the  deep  and  all  pervading  spirituality  which  was  en- 
joined by  the  gospel.  And  the  moral  state  of  the  Gen- 
tiles was  even  still  more  deplorable.  Their  philosophers, 
and  poets,  and  statesmen,  who,  in  different  ways  became 
guides  in  matters  of  religion,  were,  for  the  most  part, 
utterly  skeptical  in  respect  to  the  first  principles  of  reli- 
gion ;  and  held  a  system,  if  system  it  could  be  called, 
which,  to  all  practical  purposes,  was  scarcely  better  than 
Atheism.  And  their  morals  were  the  counterpart  of 
their  doctrines ; — a  perpetual  war  upon  the  first  princi- 
ples of  morals ; — the  unblushing  practice  of  every  form 
of  vice  which  a  depraved  ingenuity  could  invent.    Judge 


136  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

ye  whether  such  a  state  of  things  would  be  likely  to  fa- 
cilitate the  introduction  of  such  a  religion  as  Christianity. 
Is  it  in  accordance  with  the  established  laws  of  human 
nature,  that  men  readily  yield  to  that  which  opposes  the 
whole  current  of  their  prejudices,  and  habits  and  incli- 
nations ? 

And  while  the  condition  of  the  Jews  and  Romans, 
separately  considered,  opposed  a  formidable  obstacle  to 
the  introduction  of  the  gospel,  yet  another  obstacle  ex- 
isted in  the  disposition  which  the  two  nations  cherished 
towards  each  other.  The  Romans  had  long  regarded 
the  Jews  with  the  strongest  aversion,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  the  peculiarities  of  their  religion,  as  because 
they  spurned  at  their  claims  as  a  distinct  and  peculiar 
people ;  and  having  gained  the  mastery  over  them,  they 
subjected  them  to  a  yoke  which  was  by  no  means  easy 
to  be  borne ;  while  the  Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  cherished 
an  inveterate  hostility  against  the  Romans,  not  only  as 
being  the  enemies  of  their  religion  and  the  authors  of 
their  bondage,  but  as  having  afflicted  them  by  the  most 
unreasonable  and  oppressive  exactions.  You  will  in- 
stantly perceive  how  this  mutual  hostility  was  fitted  to 
impede  the  introduction  of  Christianity  ;  especially  how 
it  would  naturally  operate  to  make  the  Romans  turn 
away  with  disgust  from  a  rehgion  which  claimed  to  be 
of  Jewish  origin. 

I  ask  now,  was  not  every  thing  in  the  state  of  the 
world  unfavourable  to  the  success  of  the  gospel  at  the 
period  of  its  introduction?  Can  you  conceive  of  any 
greater  obstacles  than  it  had  to  encounter ;  any  greater 
obstacles  than  it  did  encounter,  and  yet  survive  in  tri~ 
umph? 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  137 

2.  Mohamedism  artfully  accommodated  itself  to  the 
prejudices  and  passions  of  men :  Christianity  directly 
contravened  them. 

In  the  system  which  Mohamed  introduced  there  was 
much  to  gratify  the  pride  of  the  intellect.  While  he  re- 
tained that  great  fundamental  principle — the  unity  of 
God,  and  professed  that  it  was  one  leading  object  of  his 
mission  to  restore  it  from  the  corruption  and  obscurity 
into  which  it  had  been  thrown,  he  rejected  all  the  essen- 
tial truths  of  Christianity.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
of  the  deity  and  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  and  sanctification  by  the  Spirit,  in  short 
all  those  truths  which  are  peculiarly  evangelical,  and 
which  require  human  Reason  to  yield  up  her  lofty  pre- 
tensions and  to  believe  on  the  simple  authority  of '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord ;' — make  no  part  of  the  Mohamedan 
creed.  Whatever  absurdities  his  followers  may  have  to 
receive  upon  his  own  authority, — and  they  are  neither 
few  nor  small, — he  aims  to  bring  down  the  doctrines  of 
religion  to  a  level  with  their  comprehension ;  and  the 
offence  of  the  cross  he  has  studiously  kept  out  of  their 
way.  So  also  he  has  consulted  the  depraved  inclinations 
and  sensual  appetites  of  men ;  especially  in  his  doctrine 
of  rewards  and  punishments ;  representing  the  joys  of 
Heaven  to  consist  in  a  course  of  unbounded  sensual  in- 
dulgence, and  the  miseries  of  Hell  in  a  scene  of  mere 
physical  deprivation  and  torture.  In  short,  his  system 
was  most  warily  devised  to  appeal  to  the  hopes  and  fears 
of  man  as  a  sensual  being :  he  well  knew  by  experience 
as  well  as  observation  the  power  of  the  animal  appe- 
tites ;  and  the  importance  which  he  gave  to  this  was 
not  less  an  evidence  of  his  sagacity  than  a  means  of  his 
success, 

12* 


138  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

I  have  spoken  of  Mohamedism  as  falling  in  with  the 
general  tendencies  of  man's  corrupt  nature:  let  me 
speak  of  it  now  more  particularly  as  being  accommoda- 
ted to  the  different  religious  classes  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed. Mohamed  did  not  pretend  to  offer  to  the  world 
a  new  rehgion,  distinct  from  all  that  had  preceded  it,  or 
that  then  existed ;  on  the  contrary,  he  professed  to  re- 
cognise the  existence  of  the  other  prevailing  systems,  and 
to  incorporate  whatever  was  true  and  useful  in  them  into 
his  own.  With  the  Jew  he  maintained  the  divine  au- 
thority of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures  and  the  institu- 
tions of  Moses  ;  with  the  Christian  he  acknowledged  the 
divine  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  and  the  idolater  he  flattered  into  the  reception  of 
his  system  by  professedly  leaving  him  to  his  idolatrous 
ceremonies,  and  endeavouring  to  render  them  in  some 
instances  more  impressive  and  imposing.  In  this  way 
provision  was  made  for  conciliating  the  several  classes  ; 
so  that  the  Jew,  the  Pagan,  and  the  Christian,  could 
all  unite  in  a  system  which  seemed  to  recognise  the  pe- 
culiarities of  each,  and  professed  to  be  an  improvement 
upon  all. 

Christianity,  whether  considered  in  reference  to  the 
general  corrupt  tendencies  of  human  nature,  or  to  the 
particular  prejudices  which  existed  among  different 
classes,  never  manifested  in  the  least  degree  a  spirit  of 
accommodation.  She  proclaimed  doctrines  which  were 
pre-eminently  fitted  to  humble  the  pride  of  the  intellect, — 
doctrines  too  deep  for  human  Reason  to  fathom ;  and 
yet  she  required  that  they  should  be  implicitly  received 
on  the  simple  testimony  of  God.  She  enjoined  duties 
which  were  at  war  with  every  corrupt  principle  of  our 
nature,  and  required  the  performance  of  them  on  the 
penalty  of  everlasting  death.     She  fearlessly  attacked 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  139 

sin  in  every  form  and  in  every  conditiorij  and  was  as 
unsparing  in  her  denunciations  upon  impenitence  among 
the  great  and  the  mighty  as  the  insignificant  and  ob- 
scure. She  would  not  consent  to  the  least  modification 
of  the  terms  on  which  her  blessings  were  ofifered  ;  and 
she  distinctly  and  every  where  proclaimed,  that  any 
thing  short  of  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  would  leave  man  to  encounter  the 
woes  of  the  second  death. 

The  two  great  classes  with  which  Christianity  was 
conversant  were  Jews  and  Heathen  ;  but  in  respect  to 
neither  of  them  did  she  ever  exhibit  the  semblance  of  a 
compromising  spirit.  Upon  the  two  leading  sects  among 
the  Jews  she  early,  and  steadily,  and  perse veringly, 
made  war ;  encountering  the  infidelity  of  the  Sadducees 
with  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  and  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  and  the  self-righteousness  of  the  Phari- 
sees with  the  most  searching  and  pungent  exhibitions  of 
the  rottenness  of  their  character.  The  Gentiles  would 
have  readily  enough  received  her^  if  they  had  not  been 
offended  by  her  exclusiveness :  if  she  would  have  con- 
sented to  come  in  on  the  same  terms  with  the  many 
other  systems  which  were  in  vogue  among  them,  no 
doubt  she  might  have  been  tolerated,  and  might  have 
taken  her  chance  for  becoming  the  popular  religion:  but 
she  had  no  ear  for  the  voice  of  flattery ;  she  could  not 
live  among  systems  of  idolatry  for  any  other  purpose 
than  to  demolish  them  ;  and  her  intention  to  do  this, — 
to  assail  the  very  principalities  of  Paganism,  she  pro- 
claimed from  the  house  tops.  She  told  the  world  at  the 
outset  what  she  had  come  to  do ;  and,  whether  among 
Jews  or  Gentiles,  slie  remained  inflexible  in  her  purpose 
to  do  it.  Does  not  this  look  as  if  she  were  conscious 
that  she  had  power  to  withstand  all  the  opposition  which 


140  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

an  honest  avowal  of  her  purposes  would  awaken  ?  Does 
it  not  indicate  a  full  conviction  that  she  had  no  occasion, 
as  certainly  she  had  no  disposition,  to  abate  at  all  from 
the  holiness  of  her  requisitions?  If  she  had  not  felt 
that  she  was  girded  with  Omnipotence,  would  she  not, 
at  least  in  the  beginning,  have  shown  herself  more  timid 
and  compromising  ?  Would  not  Mohamed  have  inevi- 
tably ruined  his  cause,  if  he  had  commenced  his  career 
by  thus  openly  and  boldly  opposing  the  strongest  pas- 
sions and  propensities  of  human  nature? 

3.  Mohamedism  onade  great  use  of  national  pride : 
Christianity  mortified  it. 

We  all  know  with  how  much  power  this  principle 
sometimes  operates ;  how,  for  a  time,  it  gets  complete 
dominion  of  the  soul ;  and,  in  the  bright  visions  of  a 
country's  glory,  the  ties  of  near  relationship,  and  all  pri- 
vate and  personal  interests,  are  forgotten.  It  was  a  feel- 
ing of  patriotism,  of  the  most  hallowed  kind  indeed, 
which  led  to  that  beautiful  exclamation  of  the  devout 
Psalmist,  while  he  was  mourning  amidst  the  scenes  of 
his  captivity — "If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my 
right  hand  forget  her  cunning ;  if  I  do  not  remember 
thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ;  if 
I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy."  And  who 
especially  that  has  e\er  been  in  a  distant  land,  with  the 
ocean  rolling  between  him  and  his  father's  sepulchres, 
has  not  felt  his  bosom  thrill  at  the  thought  of  his  native 
country,  and  heard  her  praises  spoken  with  as  much  de- 
light, and  her  honour  assailed  with  as  much  indignation, 
as  if  the  voice  of  eulogy  or  the  voice  of  detraction  had 
been  lifted  in  respect  to  his  bosom  friend?  To  this 
principle,  so  powerful  in  its  operations,  Mohamed  con- 
stantly appealed ;  and  that  too  under  circumstances  the 
most  favourable  to  his  success.     The  Arabians  as  a  na- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  141 

tion  had  long  been  in  a  depressed  state,  and  had  even  been 
distinguished  for  ignorance  and  barbarism ;  and  when 
the  thought  of  an  extensive  dominion  was  suggested  to 
them,  it  came  over  them  with  an  exhih rating  freshness 
which  at  once  prepared  them  for  bold  and  vigorous  ac- 
tion. Looking  down  the  vista  of  years,  they  saw  their 
country  rising  from  the  dust,  and  girding  herself  wdth 
glory;  and  as  her  victorious  leader  advanced  in  his 
march,  they  beheld  the  surrounding  nations  paying  their 
homage  at  his  feet.  Naturally  fierce  and  w^arlike,  they 
valued  most  the  laurels  that  were  gathered  in  battle  and 
dyed  with  blood ;  and  in  the  prospect  of  victory  in  the 
cause  of  their  country's  greatness,  the  thought  of  dying 
became  too  unimportant  to  occupy  them  for  a  moment, 
Mohamed  kept  their  eye  steadily  fixed  on  this  dazzling 
object ;  he  cheered  them  at  every  step  by  the  reflection 
that  they  were  moving  onward  to  national  glory ;  and 
as  they  beheld  their  expectations  gradually  realized,  they 
gathered  fresh  courage  to  encounter  fresh  opposition, 

Christianity,  instead  of  bringing  the  principle  of  na- 
tional pride  to  her  aid,  met  it  with  a  most  cutting  rebuke. 
The  Jews  were  proud  enough  of  the  distinction  they 
had  already  enjoyed  for  so  many  ages  as  the  peculiar 
people  of  God ;  but  it  was  the  future  coming  of  Messiah 
as  a  victorious  temporal  prince,  to  deliver  them  from  the 
Roman  yoke,  and  raise  them  to  more  than  their  ancient 
greatness,  which  constituted  the  object  of  their  highest 
ambition.  And  the  time  had  come  which  their  own 
prophecies  had  marked  out  as  the  period  of  his  advent. 
It  was  just  when  every  heart  was  beating  in  joyful  ex- 
pectation of  the  illustrious  personage  who  was  coming, 
as  they  imagined,  to  effect  their  deliverance,  that  Jesus 
appeared ;  and  his  very  first  business  w^as,  not  to  flatter, 
but  to  humble,  them  ; — not  to  remind  them  of  the  glory 


142  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

of  the  past,  and  to  cheer  them  onward  by  pointing  to 
the  still  brighter  glory  of  the  future,  but  to  pour  mildew 
on  hopes  which  had  been  the  steady  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  ages.  He  distinctly  claimed  to  be,  as  he  most 
unequivocally  proved  himself,  the  promised  Messiah; 
and  he  bid  them  terminate  their  wild  dreams  of  tempo- 
ral distinction  by  assuring  them  that  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world.  He  moved  about,  not  in  the  splen- 
dours of  royalty,  but  in  the  habiliments  of  poverty ;  and 
instead  of  being  greeted  by  the  homage  of  the  multitude 
while  he  was  sitting  on  a  throne,  he  was  insuhed  by 
their  execrations  while  he  w^as  dying  on  a  cross.  So 
strong  and  so  universal  was  the  expectation  of  a  tempo- 
ral deliverer,  that  even  his  own  immediate  disciples  had 
eagerly  embraced  it ;  and  they  held  it  fast  even  through 
the  scenes  of  his  crucifixion,  and  up  to  the  time  of  his 
ascension  into  Heaven.  Here  again,  what  but  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  power  to  carry  fonvard  his  own 
work,  could  have  led  him  to  strike  such  a  withering  blow 
at  the  strongest  hopes  of  the  nation  ?  Would  Mohamed 
have  dared  in  this  respect  to  walk  in  the  steps  of  the 
Author  of  Christianity  ? 

4.  Mohamedism  loas  imposed  iipon  the  world  hy  a 
conquering  tyrant:  Christianity  oiued  her  establish- 
ment pinncipally  to  the  labours  of  a  few  illiterate 
fishermen. 

Mohamed  did  not  indeed,  at  the  commencement  of 
his  career,  take  up  the  sword ;  for  then  he  w^as  single 
handed ;  and  if  he  had  taken  the  sw^ord,  he  must  inevi- 
tably have  perished  by  the  sword.  He  knew  that  the 
foundation  of  his  ultimate  success  must  be  laid  by  the  arts 
of  persuasion ;  and  these  arts  he  diligently  practised,  first 
among  his  own  kindred,  and  then  on  a  more  extended 
scale,  as  he  could  gain  opportunity.    At  length,  after 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  143 

years  of  laborious  eflfort,  during  which  he  never  claimed 
the  right  of  using  any  other  power  for  the  propagation 
of  his  system  than  that  of  argument,  his  cause  had 
gained  so  much  strength  that  he  ventured  to  announce 
to  the  world  that  God  had  commissioned  him  to  resort 
to  military  force ;  to  compel  by  war  and  conquest,  not 
only  his  own  countrymen  but  the  inhabitants  of  other 
countries,  to  an  acknowledgment  of  his  doctrines  and  a 
submission  to  his  authority.  And  now  the  soft  voice  of 
flattery  yielded  to  the  stern  voice  of  tyranny ;  and  he 
who  a  little  before  was  bland,  and  gentle,  and  even  im- 
portunate in  his  soUcitations  of  favour,  now  rose  in  the 
sternness  of  a  despot,  and  claimed  every  thing  as  a  right; 
and  the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded;  and  the  bloody 
standard  was  unfurled;  and  his  deluded  followers  on 
every  side  rushed  to  it  with  a  degree  of  phrensied  exul- 
tation which  showed  that  they  stood  ready,  at  the  bid- 
ding of  their  leader,  to  march  into  the  jaws  of  death. 
The  man  who  has  spent  so  much  of  his  hfe  in  a  cave 
in  intimate  communion  with  the  Most  High,  and  so 
much  of  it  in  quietly  expounding  his  system  to  his  fel- 
low men,  is  now  at  the  head  of  a  mighty  army  and  ac- 
coutred for  bloody  conflict;  and  they  who  were  once 
brave  to  ridicule  him  when  they  talked  of  his  preten- 
sions, have  become  timid ;  and  they  who  have  not  been 
convinced  by  his  arguments,  cannot  withstand  the 
terror  of  his  sword.  '  Yield  or  die'  was  his  language 
to  every  idolater ;  '  Yield  or  pay  tribute,'  his  language  to 
every  Christian  ;  and  so  powerful  had  he  become,  that 
there  remained  no  hope  of  successfully  resisting  his  au- 
thority. Even  the  princes  and  potentates  of  other  coun- 
tries received  from  him  the  same  humiliating  alternative; 
and  so  terrifick  was  his  very  name,  that  it  made  their 
hearts  throb  and  their  ears  tingle ;  and,  in  some  instan- 


144  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

ces,  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  they  yielded  to  his 
despotick  mandate.  It  was  indeed  a  summary  way  of 
making  converts,  to  point  his  sword  at  a  man's  bosom, 
and  tell  him  that  he  should  look  upon  his  own  heart's 
blood  the  next  moment,  if  he  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  Prophet's  authority. 

What  a  dehghtful  contrast  to  this  violent  and  bloody 
procedure  is  found  in  the  early  history  of  Christianity  ! 
That  history  indeed  records  many  scenes  of  desperate 
cruelty ;  but  it  was  cruelty  exercised  not  hy  Jesus  or  his 
followers,  but  towards  them.  There  were  rivers  of 
blood  shed  during  the  first  centuries;  but  it  was  the 
blood  of  those  who  counted  not  their  Uves  dear  to  them 
that  they  might  become  witnesses  for  the  truth  ;  and  like 
Abel's  blood,  it  had  a  voice  which  reached  even  to  Hea- 
ven. Who  can  read  the  history  of  Jesus  without  being 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  fiercer  passions  had  no 
dominion  over  him  ?  And  so  far  was  he  from  lending 
his  sanction  to  deeds  of  violence,  or  even  seeming  to  con- 
nive at  them,  that  he  rebuked  Peter  for  taking  up  the 
sword  even  in  his  Master's  defence,  and  instantly  put 
forth  his  divine  energy  to  heal  the  wound  which  that 
rash  disciple  had  caused.  He  was  a  meek,  humble  and 
unassuming  man  ;  and  though  he  was  inflexible  in  his 
purposes,  and  peremptory  in  his  claims, — nay,  though 
he  openly  declared  that  he  had  come  to  demolish  the 
strong  holds  of  sin,  and  wrest  Satan's  empire  out  of  his 
hands,  yet  the  only  instrumentahty  that  he  chose  to  em- 
ploy, leaving  out  of  view  his  miraculous  works,  were 
Truth  and  Reason.  As  he  preached  the  doctrine  of  the 
kingdom  and  authenticated  his  commission  by  his  migh- 
ty works,  many  believed  his  doctrine,  and  bowed  to  his 
authority.  And  his  Apostles  too,  in  whose  hands  he  left 
the  work  which  he  had  himself  begun,  had  nothing  to 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  145 

rely  on  but  the  power  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the 
Spirit.  They  were  commanded  to  go  forth  and  attack 
a  world  that  was  in  arms  against  them ;  and  they  obeyed 
the  command  ;  but  the  weapons  of  their  warfare  were 
not  carnal  but  spiritual.  Many  of  them,  as  well  as  oi 
those  who  immediately  succeeded  them,  were  the  vic- 
tims of  heathen  persecution ;  but  the  cause  in  which 
they  suffered  steadily  advanced,  and  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  proved  to  be  the  seed  of  the  church.  Only  con 
template  the  condition  of  the  Apostles  at  the  moment 
their  Master  had  left  them, — solitary,  weak,  friendless, 
without  reputation  and  without  influence,  and  consider 
their  ability  with  reference  to  the  work  which  was  given 
them  to  do, — the  work  which  they  actually  accom- 
plished ; — and  say  whether  the  result  of  their  efforts  does 
not  prove  that  they  had  the  presence  and  aid  of  an  Al- 
mighty arm.  Is  it  in  the  nature  of  things  that  these 
men  could  have  moved  the  world  as  they  did,  if  the 
Power  that  made  the  world  had  not  assisted  them  ? 

I  ask  you  now,  my  friends,  whether,  in  the  review  oi 
this  article,  we  are  not  fairly  brought  to  the  conclusion 
that,  though  the  establishment  of  Mohamedism  was  in 
many  respects  an  unparalleled  event,  yet  there  was  no- 
thing in  it  to  involve  the  necessity  of  any  super-human 
agency ;  that  the  establishment  of  Christianity  on  the 
other  hand  could  have  been  nothing  less  than  the  result 
of  an  extraordinary  divine  interposition.  Admit,  if  you 
please,  the  propagation  of  the  one  to  have  been  as  rapid 
as  that  of  the  other, — yet  this  fact  amounts  to  nothing, 
apart  from  the  character  of  the  two  systems,  and  the 
circumstances  in  which,  and  the  means  by  which,  they 
were  introduced  and  extended.  Henceforth  then,  let  not 
the  infidel,  when  I  have  expounded  to  him  the  argument 
for  the  truth  of  the  gospel  from  its  early  propagation, 

13 


146  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

point  me  to  the  first  triumphs  of  Mohamedism  as  bear- 
ing, in  an  equal  degree,  the  impress  of  divine  authority. 
At  least  let  him  not  do  this,  till  he  has  shown  that  the 
contrast  which  I  have  now  presented  has  no  foundation 
in  truth ;  and  especially  that  there  is  no  difference  be- 
tween promulgating  a  rehgion  at  the  head  of  an  army 
and  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  and  promulgating  it  by  a 
simple  appeal  to  the  understanding  and  heart. 
We  contrast  these  systems 

III.    As   to  THE    CHARACTERS    OF    THEIR    FOUNDERS. 

Much  that  might  naturally  fall  under  this  division  of 
the  discourse,  I  have  necessarily  anticipated  in  speaking 
of  the  different  courses  of  conduct  which  the  two  re- 
spectively pursued:  there  are  several  points,  however, 
which  deserve  distinct  consideration. 

1.  Mohdimed  was  grossli/ inconsistent :  Jesus  was  a 
perfect  model  of  consistency/. 

No  impostor  ever  yet  exhibited  throughout  a  consistent 
character ;  and  we  may  safely  say  that  no  impostor  ever 
will.  If  you  will  point  me  to  a  man  who  is  bad  enough 
to  attempt  to  palm  upon  the  world  a  system  of  religion 
which  he  knows  to  be  false,  I  will  point  you  to  one  whose 
corrupt  inclinations  are  so  strong  that  they  will,  occasion- 
ally at  least,  break  through  any  artificial  restraints  that 
may  be  imposed  upon  them,  so  that,  to  a  careful  obser- 
ver, the  man  will  appear  to  be  nothing  better  than  he 
really  is.  And  even  where  the  open  violations  of  moral 
principle  are  least  frequent  and  least  flagrant,  the  exter- 
nal sanctity  which  the  hypocrite  assumes  is  ordinarily 
quite  distinguishable  from  the  operations  of  genuine  in- 
tegrity. In  the  former,  there  is  more  of  constraint,  and 
usually  more  of  extravagance  :  in  the  latter,  there  is  an 
unaffected  ease, — a  natural  flowing  out  of  the  feelings 
into  the  life, — the  outward  expression  of  the  inward  prin- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  147 

ciple,  which  no  art  can  effectually,  or,  for  a  long  time, 
counterfeit.  In  Mohamed  you  have  a  striking  example 
of  the  one ;  in  Jesus  a  perfect  example  of  the  other. 

If  you  refer  the  character  of  Mohamed  as  a  whole  to 
any  standard  of  morality  which  Reason  or  Conscience 
will  recognise,  you  will  be  struck  with  the  fact  that  there 
is  a  most  revolting  discrepancy  between  them  :  and  then 
again,  if  you  look  at  his  conduct  at  different  periods  and 
under  different  circumstances,  you  cannot  fail  to  perceive 
that  his  character  was  a  mere  tissue  of  contradictions. 
At  one  period,  you  find  him  dealing  in  the  soft  arts  of 
persuasion,  and  professedly  looking  to  nothing  but  truth 
and  argument  for  the  support  of  his  claims  ;  at  another, 
brandishing  the  sword  with  terrific  energy,  and  peremp- 
torily demanding  obedience  or  blood.  Here  you  find 
him  in  the  solitude  of  a  cave,  professedly  receiving  com- 
munications from  Heaven ;  and  there  committing  crimes, 
the  bare  recital  of  which  would  cause  decency  to  blush, 
and  humanity  to  shudder.  He  steadily  maintains  his 
claims  as  a  Prophet  of  the  Most  High  God ;  but  in  main- 
taining them  exhibits  a  course  of  conduct  in  which  he 
outrages  every  attribute  of  the  di\nne  character.  What 
more  glaring  evidences  of  imposture  could  there  be  than 
are  furnished  by  such  inconsistencies  ? 

But  you  may  scrutinize  the  character  of  Jesus  as 
closely  as  you  will,  and  you  shall  find  in  it  not  the  sem- 
blance of  self-contradiction  ; — nothing  that  involves  the 
slightest  departure  from  the  great  rule  by  which  he  pro- 
fessed always  to  be  governed.  There  are  some  good 
men,  whose  characters  seem  to  be  but  imperfectly  ba- 
lanced ;  in  whom  great  excellences  and  great  defects  are 
so  blended  that  you  scarcely  know  whether,  on  the 
whole,  there  is  more  to  admire  or  to  condemn  ;  and  in 
contemplating  certain  qualities  which  belong  to  them. 


148  CHRISTIAN [TY    CONTRASTED 

you  are  sometimes  at  loss  whether  you  have  in  your  eye 
a  good  quahty  so  marred  by  an  evil  admixture  as  to  be 
degenerating  into  a  vice,  or  an  evil  quality  so  relieved 
and  softened  l)y  the  excellences  with  which  it  is  associa- 
ted as  to  have  gathered  in  some  degree  the  aspect  of  a 
\irtue.  But  you  have  no  such  doubts  in  contemplatmg 
the  character  of  Jesus.  Here  you  find  perfect  virtue 
without  the  semblance  of  intellectual  or  moral  weakness ; 
an  harmonious  blending  of  all  the  virtues,  without  a 
single  discordant  quality  to  mar  the  beautiful  proportion 
of  the  entire  character.  You  are  never  offended  by  the 
wdld  glare  of  enthusiasm,  or  by  the  movements  of  an  in- 
cautious and  phrensied  zeal,  or  by  the  mistakes  of  a 
weak  and  indiscriminating  benevolence.  You  find  no 
sacrifice  either  of  the  more  heroick  or  the  more  humble 
virtues ;  but  both  so  delightfully  blended  as  to  quahfy 
and  exalt  each  other.  No  matter  in  what  condition  Je- 
sus was  placed,  he  always  adapted  himself  to  it  with 
perfect  ease  and  success ;  and  in  contemplating  his  con- 
duct, you  never  feel  that  he  has  done  any  thing  that  was 
wrong,  or  omitted  any  thing  that  was  right.  In  short 
)^ou  have  a  character  constituted  with  the  most  perfect 
moral  proportions ; — a  character  as  incompatible  with 
the  idea  of  imposture,  as  the  darkness  of  midnight  would 
be  with  the  shining  of  the  sun  in  his  strength. 

2.  Mohamed  exhibited  a  burning  ambition :  Jesus 
2oas  'perfectly  iinasinring. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  impartially  Mohamed's 
career  without  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  the  pole 
star  that  always  guided  him  was  his  own  personal  ag- 
grandizement;  and,  upon  any  other  supposition,  his 
whole  course  becomes  utterly  inexplicable.  The  passion 
for  glory  began  to  burn  in  his  bosom  while  he  was  yet 
a  youth,  and  while  there  was  nothing  in  his  circumstan- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  149 

ces  that  seemed  to  promise  its  gratification  ;  and  under 
its  influence  he  cast  about  him  to  devise  some  means  of 
escaping  from  his  obscurity,  and  rising  to  honour.     He 
had  the  boldness  to  form  a  plan  which  contemplated  an 
absolute  dominion  not  only  over  the  bodies  but  the  souls 
of  his  fellow  men  ; — a  plan  which  was  to  exalt  him  not 
only  above  the  wisest  and  greatest  men  of  his  own  gene- 
ration, but  above  the  wisest  and  greatest  of  all  preceding 
generations,  not  excepting  Moses  and  even  Jesus  himself, 
And  in  the  execution  of  this  plan,  he  overcame  obstacles 
which,  to  a  less  daring  spirit  than  his  own,  would  have 
been  absolutely  insurmountable.     When  new  difficulties 
arose,  instead  of  even  seeming  to  yield,  he  towered  above 
them  by  an  effort  which  even  his  own  mind  had  not  be- 
fore reached.     If  the  solitude  of  the  cave  must  be  en- 
countered, he  was  ready  for  that.     If  the  most  servile 
compliances  seemed  likely  to  subserve  his  ultimate  inte- 
rest, he  was  ready  to  make  them.     If  the  arts  of  persua- 
sion were  required,  those  aits  he  was  sure  to  use.     If  a 
resort  to  the  sword  seemed  likely  to  extend  his  dominion, 
he  seized  it  in  an  instant,  and  brought  it  to  its  bloody 
work.     He  professed   indeed   to   be   labouring  for  the 
world ; — for  the  world's  reformation  from  idolatry  and 
sin, — for  the  world's  illumination  in  respect  to  the  great 
truths  of  religion ;  but  it  was  as  clear  as  the  light  that 
he  was  really  labouring  for  the  world's  subjection  to  his 
usurped  authority ; — labouring  not  only  to  extend  the 
glory  of  his  ow^n  name  over  the  earth,  but  to  pferpetuate 
it  to  the  end  of  time.     Every  thing  showed  that  if  his 
own  personal  wishes  could  be  gratified,  and  his  own  per- 
sonal reign  extended,  he  cared  little  for  any  thing  else  ; 
that,  not  the  reformation  of  the  world,  but  the  glory  of 
the  pretended  reformer,  was  the  object  which  occupied 
the  whole  field  of  his  vision. 
13* 


150  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

And  now  was  there  ever  any  thing  so  entirely  the  op- 
posite of  all  this  as  the  conduct  of  Jesus  ?  To  what 
single  incident  can  you  point  in  the  history  of  his  life, 
that  indicated  a  thirst  for  earthly  glory ;  or  rather  that 
did  710^  indicate  that  he  regarded  the  honours  of  the 
world  as  worthless,  and  that  he  completely  lost  sight  of 
himself  in  his  benevolent  regard  to  the  interests  of  others  ? 
He  has  indeed  a  mighty  plan  to  execute ;  and  that  plan 
bears  heavily  upon  his  heart  night  and  day;  and  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  it  contemplates  his  own  ul- 
timate exaltation  to  a  universal  dominion ;  but  it  is  a 
most  gracious  and  blessed  dominion ; — a  dominion  which 
will  constitute  the  highest  happiness  and  glory  of  the 
universe.  Upon  all  the  objects  of  worldly  ambition — 
riches,  honours,  pleasures — he  steadily  turned  his  back ; 
and  voluntarily  yielded  to  every  privation,  to  every  sa- 
crifice, and  ultimately  to  death  itself,  when  he  showed 
continually  that  in  the  apparent  weakness  of  his  arm 
there  dwelt  a  power  which  neither  animate  nor  inani- 
mate nature  could  resist.  If  he  had  been  ambitious  of 
temporal  greatness,  though  he  might  for  a  while  have 
submitted  to  privations  and  sufferings  for  the  sake  of  the 
glory  which  they  might  ultimately  secure  to  him,  yet 
would  he  have  taken  a  course  which  he  distinctly  fore- 
saw and  foretold  would  terminate  in  the  ignominious 
horrours  of  crucifixion  ?  If  it  be  said  that  he  coveted 
posthumous  fame,  I  answer  that,  unless  he  had  been 
conscious  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  he  could  have 
expected  no  oiher  fame  than  that  of  an  enthusiast  or  an 
impostor;  and  the  supposition  that  he  was  influenced  by 
worldly  motives  precludes  the  supposition  of  his  actual 
Messiahship.  There  were  occasions  in  his  life,  you  re- 
member, when  he  might  have  availed  himself  of  his 
temporary  popularity  with  the  multitude  for  heading  a 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  151 

powerful  combination  against  either  the  church  or  the 
state ;  and  in  one  instance  we  are  informed  that  they 
would  gladly  have  made  him  a  king ;  but  every  such 
movement  he  instantly  discountenanced,  and  always 
kept  himself  in  obscurity  so  far  as  was  consistent  with 
the  benevolent  purposes  of  his  mission.  He  was  ahke 
superiour  to  the  influence  of  applause  and  of  censure ; 
was  never  intoxicated  by  success  or  mortified  by  defeat. 
When  the  shouts  of  '  Hosanna'  from  the  crowd  rung  in 
his  ears,  he  betrayed  nothing  of  a  self-complacent  exul- 
tation :  when  he  was  stunned  by  the  execrations  of  the 
mob,  his  accustomed  equanimity  never  forsook  him. — 
The  truth  was  that  he  had  no  private  or  selfish  ends  to 
gain :  the  great  objects  upon  which  his  eye  was  fixed 
were  the  salvation  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  God ; 
and  whatever  occurred  to  him,  whether  of  good  or  evil, 
he  regarded  simply  in  its  bearing  upon  these  objects. 
He  was  rich,  but  for  our  sakes  became  poor.  He  was 
enthroned  in  glory,  but  for  our  sakes  condescended  to 
begin  life  in  a  manger  and  end  it  on  a  cross.  While  he 
was  in  the  world, — that  very  world  too  of  which  he  was 
the  proprietor, — he  submitted  to  almost  every  species  of 
indignity  and  sorrow,  and  had  not  even  where  to  lay  his 
head.  Can  you  imagine  any  thing  more  remote  than 
this  from  the  workings  of  worldly  ambition  ?  If  Jesus 
was  ambitious  of  temporal  distinction,  conceive,  if  you 
can,  of  a  character  that  is  not  so. 

3.  Mohamed  was  crafty :  Jesus  was  'perfectly  ho- 
nest. 

You  may  look  at  any  of  the  leading  actions  of  Mo- 
hamed's  hfe,  and  you  can  scarcely  fail  to  detect  in  them 
the  wily  spirit  of  an  impostor.  He  knew  that  the  enter- 
prise which  he  contemplated  was  one  of  mighty  magni- 
tude ;  and  as  such,  required  much  deep  and  laborious 


152  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

thought  in  the  preparation  for  its  accompUshment :  he 
knew  too  that  the  character  he  was  about  to  assume 
was  a  sacred  character,  and  that  the  world  would  have 
a  right  to  expect  that  one  who  professed  to  be  God's  last 
and  greatest  Prophet  should,  for  a  season  at  least,  have 
been  separated  from  the  world  for  purposes  of  devout 
contemplation.  Both  these  ends  he  contrived  to  accom- 
plish by  his  long  and  solitary  residence  in  the  cave  of 
Mount  Hara  ;  for  while  this  gave  him  the  opportunity  of 
carefully  maturing  his  plans  of  subsequent  action,  it  ena- 
bled him,  when  he  came  to  carry  those  plans  into  effect, 
to  point  with  some  show  of  probabihty  to  the  time  and 
the  place  of  his  professedly  receiving  divine  communica- 
tions ;  and  thus,  the  more  easily,  and  the  more  strongly, 
to  impress  the  world  with  his  superiour  sanctity.  He 
knew  that  the  dispensations  of  Moses  and  Jesus  had 
been  authenticated  by  miracles,  and  that  it  would  be 
natural  for  the  world  to  look  for  similar  evidences  of  a 
commission  from  Heaven  in  one  who  should  succeed 
them  with  still  higher  pretensions ;  but  as  he  knew  that 
he  was  here  utterly  lame,  instead  of  attempting  to  feign 
the  performance  of  miracles,  which  is  always  the  most 
dangerous  step  an  impostor  can  take,  he  artfully  gave 
out  that  the  Koran,  on  account  of  its  incomparable  su- 
blimity, was  a  standing  miracle,  and  superseded  the  ne- 
cessity of  any  others.  As  the  materials  for  the  Koran 
were  evidently  collected  from  various  sources,  and  con- 
tained much  of  self-contradiction,  which  he  knew  would 
not  be  likely  to  escape  observation,  and  which  perchance 
might  be  brought  to  discredit  his  system,  he  provided 
against  such  a  consequence  by  pretending  to  a  succession 
of  revelations  during  the  long  period  of  twenty-three 
years ;  maintaining  that  God  was  pleased,  from  time  to 
time,  to  enlarge,  to  amend,  and  even  to  revoke,  previous 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  153 

communications :  and  to  this  day,  when  the  followers  of 
Mohamed  are  pressed  with  tiie  inconsistencies  of  the 
Koran,  they  have  still  the  same  answer  which  he  him- 
self furnished  them,  and  which  takes  off  the  responsibi- 
hty  from  the  Prophet  and  casts  it  upon  God.  As  the 
population  of  Arabia  was  of  a  mixed  character,  he  fore- 
saw that  his  system,  in  order  to  succeed,  must  combine, 
to  some  extent,  the  peculiarities  of  the  different  parties 
which  he  wished  to  conciUate ;  and  hence,  while  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  system  in  the  great  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  God,  in  which  all  professed  to  unite,  he  flattered 
the  idolater,  the  Jew,  the  professor,  of  Christianity,  by  a 
recognition  of  something  which  belonged  to  their  re- 
spective systems.  In  prosecuting  his  pretended  mission, 
he  professed,  while  he  felt  himself  weak  and  inadequate 
to  any  daring  movement,  to  have  neither  a  disposition 
nor  a  warrant  for  using  any  other  force  than  that 
of  truth  and  argument ;  but  as  soon  as  he  felt  strong 
enough  for  the  enterprise,  he  stood  forth  with  a  sword  in 
his  hand  at  the  head  of  an  army.  And  as  he  moved 
forward  in  his  victorious  career,  every  thing  that  he  did 
was  done  from  considerations  of  the  deepest  policy.  If 
those  who  were  conquered  by  his  arms  became  the  ob- 
jects of  his  mercy,  it  was  because  he  imagined  that,  by 
an  exhibition  of  kindness,  he  could  disarm  them  of  their 
hostihty,  or  allure  others  to  his  cause :  or  if  he  consigned 
them  to  an  instant  and  cruel  death,  it  was  because  he 
saw  in  them  an  obstinacy  which  would  never  yield,  and 
which  might  still  kindle  into  a  desperate  resistance,  or 
because  he  wished  to  render  future  conquests  more  easy 
by  striking  terror  into  those  who  were  to  be  the  subjects 
of  them.  In  every  thing  he  showed  himself  the  very 
apostle  of  cunning :  every  plan  that  he  formed,  every 
step  that  he  took,  was  marked  by  that  spirit  of  artifice 


154  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRA-STED 

which  constituted  one  of  the  leading  elements  of  his 
character. 

Jesus  was  indeed  consummately  prudent :  it  is  said 
by  otie  of  his  biographers,  that  he  did  not  commit  him- 
self to  man,  because  he  knew  what  was  in  man.  Ne- 
vertheless, he  was  as  far  removed  as  possible  from  any 
thing  that  had  even  the  appearance  of  dissimulation. — 
While  he  constantly  inculcated  the  importance  of  perfect 
sincerity,  he  exhibited  a  complete  pattern  of  this  virtue 
in  his  hfe.  He  has  no  plans  which  he  is  ashamed  or 
unwilHng  to  acknowledge :  he  is  influenced  by  no  mo- 
tives which  he  is  not  conscious  will  bear  to  be  scruti- 
nized :  he  performs  no  actions  which,  if  they  were  bla- 
zoned before  the  world,  would  require  an  apology.  He 
has  manifestly  one  great  object  to  accomplish ;  and  to 
that  object  he  is  directing  all  his  efforts  in  the  full  light 
of  day.  In  his  intercourse  with  mankind  he  never  says 
one  thing  and  means  another ;  and  though  he  some- 
times confounds  his  enemies  by  his  unearthly  wisdom, 
and  suffers  them  to  entangle  themselves  in  their  efforts 
to  entangle  him,  yet  he  never  spreads  a  snare  even  for 
their  feet :  he  leaves  them  to  become  the  authors  of  their 
own  confusion.  He  does  nothing  in  darkness :  light  is 
the  element  of  all  his  purposes  and  all  his  actions. 

4.  Mohamed  yielded  himself  without  restraint  to 
sensiml  indulge7ices :  Jesus  was  i??imaculately  pure. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  life,  it  would  seem  that  Moha- 
med, from  considerations  of  policy,  did  impose  some  re- 
straint upon  the  sensual  appetites ;  for  he  saw  clearly  that 
the  world  would  require  this  in  one  who  should  set  up 
to  be  its  reformer.  With  all  the  power  of  his  genius 
and  all  the  depth  of  his  art,  he  was  well  aware  that  he 
could  not  accomplish  his  object,  if  his  life  were  openly 
and  flagrantly  at  war  with  the  first  principles  of  morali- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  155 

ty ;  and  he  seems  so  far  to  have  yielded  to  the  necessity 
of  the  case,  as  to  have  been  kept  within  the  bounds  of 
sobriety  and  decency.  But  before  you  make  up  your 
mind  in  respect  to  this  part  of  his  character,  wait  till  his 
cause  has  gathered  so  much  strength  that  he  has  cast 
off  all  fear  of  opposition ;  till  his  character  has  become 
so  sacred  in  the  view  of  his  dehrious  followers,  that  they 
regard  it  not  only  as  incapable  of  being  marred,  but  as 
consecrating  every  quality  that  may  belong  to  it.  And 
now  that  the  considerations  which  have  hitherto  kept 
his  unhallowed  propensities  in  check  are  removed,  you 
shall  see  him  sinking  the  man  in  the  brute  and  even 
wallowing  in  the  mire  of  voluptuousness.  It  were  im- 
possible, without  transgressing  the  bounds  of  decency,  to 
do  justice  to  this  part  of  his  character :  I  shall  dismiss 
it  therefore  with  the  single  remark  that  he  justified  his 
sensuality  by  the  principles  of  his  system;  and  that, 
while  he  gave  to  his  followers  a  license  in  respect  to  their 
appetites  which  was  utterly  inconsistent  with  sound  mo- 
rality, he  claimed  still  greater  hberty  for  himself  from 
the  very  consideration  which  ought  to  have  led  him  to 
the  most  rigid  self-denial ; — viz,  that  he  was  a  Prophet 
of  the  Most  High  God.  As  the  heaven  to  which  he 
taught  his  followers  to  aspire  was  a  place  of  unbounded 
sensuality,  so  he,  as  their  great  leader,  exemplified  the 
character  of  the  sensualist  to  a  degree,  which  has  given 
his  name  a  pre-eminence  in  the  annals  of  pollution,  and 
which  must  ever  cause  virtue  to  blush  and  weep. 

I  cannot  bring  myself  to  contrast  the  adorable  Re- 
deemer of  the  world  with  this  vile  impostor,  on  this  point, 
other  than  by  saying  that  Jesus  was  immaculately  holy. 
The  appetites  common  to  human  nature  entered  into 
his  constitution ;  but  they  occupied  precisely  the  place 
which  the  Creator  designed  for  them,  and  were  always 


156  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

subservient  to  the  divine  glory.  And  while  Jesus  was 
a  model  both  of  outward  and  inward  purity,  the  doc- 
trines which  he  inculcated,  the  duties  which  he  enjoined, 
were  all  stamped  with  the  same  character.  He  not  only 
prohibited  open  acts  of  wickedness,  but  the  thoughts, 
the  affections,  the  whole  inner  man,  he  would  bring  un- 
der a  purifying  influence.  The  Heaven  to  which  he 
constantly  pointed  his  followers  was  a  holy  Heaven ;  and 
the  evidence  of  their  title  to  it  he  made  to  consist  entirely 
in  their  moral  purity.  To  honour  the  law  of  God  was 
his  errand  into  the  world ;  and  not  an  action  of  his  life, 
nor  a  word  from  his  hps,  nor  a  feeling  of  his  heart,  ever 
fell  below  that  perfect  standard. 

5.  Mohamed  was  cruel :  Jesus  was  tender  and  mer- 
ciful. 

I  am  aware  that  some  have  maintained  that  Moha- 
med w^as  constitutionally  humane  and  generous ;  and 
that  the  cruelty  in  which  he  indulged  was  the  result  of 
mere  policy.  Be  it  so ;  and  who  will  recognise  in  this 
the  semblance  of  an  apology  for  him  ?  Is  it  a  more 
heinous  crime  for  a  man  to  bathe  his  hands  in  the  blood 
of  his  fellow  man  in  obedience  to  a  strong  inherent  pro- 
pensity, than  to  perform  the  same  barbarous  act  merely 
from  the  deliberate  calculations  of  self-interest  ?  On  the 
contrary,  is  not  the  turpitude  of  such  an  act  rather  ag- 
gravated than  lessened  in  the  latter  case  by  the  conside- 
ration that  the  mind  acts  with  greater  freedom  ; — that  it 
goes  coolly  to  work  to  set  aside  the  first  laws  of  nature, 
when  not  only  the  voice  of  conscience,  but  the  voice  of 
an  instinctive  tenderness,  is  lifted  up,  to  protest  against 
the  deed.  But  let  the  conduct  of  Mohamed  in  this  re- 
spect be  accounted  for  as  it  may,  that  it  was  barbarous 
in  the  extreme  no  one  who  has  any  knowledge  of  his 
history  can  question.     From  the  hour  that  he  proclaimed 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  157 

his  pretended  commission  to  resort  to  the  sword,  desola» 
tion  every  where  followed  in  his  track.  Those  who 
would  not  tamely  yield  up  the  very  first  right  which 
God  had  given  them — the  right  of  thinking  for  them- 
selves,— and  who  dared  to  question,  much  more  to  resist, 
his  authority,  were  most  unceremoniously  slaughtered  in 
obedience  to  his  mandate.  No  domestick  tie, — not  even 
the  endearments  of  filial,  or  conjugal,  or  parental,  tender- 
ness, were  so  sacred,  as  to  be  respected  by  him  for  a  mo- 
ment. His  eye  was  never  weary  of  beholding  blood ; 
his  ear  was  never  weary  of  the  groans  of  death;  his 
heart  was  never  weary  of  its  cold  and  desperate  purpo- 
ses ;  and  till  his  eye  was  closed,  and  his  ear  was  deaf, 
and  his  heart  was  still,  in  death,  he  held  his  bloody  scep- 
tre with  an  iron  grasp  ;  and  as  he  had  become  the  ter- 
ror of  the  surrounding  nations,  seemed  likely  to  become 
the  terror  of  the  world. 

But  nothing  like  this  do  you  find  in  the  character  of 
Jesus.  His  heart  was  the  seat  of  boundless  compassion. 
The  errand  on  which  he  came  was  the  most  gracious  of 
all  errands  ; — nothing  less  than  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  is  lost ;  to  heal  the  wounds  which  sin  and  sorrow 
make  in  the  heart,  by  pointing  to  a  fountain  of  mercy 
open, — to  a  world  of  glory  in  prospect.  And  now  1  ask 
you  to  read  over  the  history  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  tell 
me  whether  his  conduct  as  it  is  there  exhibited,  his  spi- 
rit as  it  is  there  described,  were  not  entirely  in  keeping 
with  the  benevolent  object  which  brought  him  into  the 
world.  Where  will  you  find  an  instance  in  which  he 
manifested  the  least  disregard  to  the  rights  of  others; 
or  in  which  he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  human 
distress ;  or  in  which  he  even  seemed  to  render  evil  for 
evil  ?  Where  can  you  point  to  any  thing  in  his  instruc- 
tions that  looks  hke  conniving  at  injustice,  or  oppression, 

14 


158  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

or  cruelty ;  or  that,  by  being  practically  received,  would 
not  make  the  heart  of  man  more  tender  and  generous  ? 
Follow  him  from  place  to  place,  and  observe  the  purposes 
for  which  his  mighty  power  is  displayed ; — not  to  ele* 
vate  himself  to  an  arbitrary  dominion  over  his  fellow- 
men  ;  not  to  accumulate  for  himself  the  riches  or  the 
honours  of  the  world  ;  no,  not  even  to  bring  to  himself 
the  common  comforts  of  life  ;  but  to  dry  away  the  foun- 
tains of  sorrow,  and  open  in  their  place  fountains  of 
consolation.  And  while  his  career  was  one  of  boundless 
and  uninterrupted  benevolence,  he  was  met,  for  the  most 
part,  with  chilling  disdain  or  malignant  insult.  And 
yet  not  a  resentful  word  ever  escaped  his  lips ;  not  an 
unkind  emotion  ever  arose  in  his  heart.  I  cannot  dwell 
on  this  dehghtful  trait  in  his  character ;  and  yet  I  must 
ask  you  to  pause  a  moment  at  his  cross,  and  see  how 
marvellously  it  comes  out  in  his  dying  scene ; — how  the 
spirit  of  divine  charity  finds  vent  amidst  agonies  which 
cast  into  the  shade  all  else  that  human  nature  ever  suf- 
fered. The  thief  at  his  side  had  just  been  mocking 
him ;  but  he  became  a  penitent,  and  Jesus  with  his  dy- 
ing breath  pronounced  him  forgiven.  The  infuriated 
mob  who  surrounded  his  cross,  and  saw  with  fiendlike 
joy  the  blood  streaming  from  his  body,  instead  of  being 
the  objects  of  his  vengeance,  were  the  objects  of  his  com- 
passion; and,  as  if  he  would  fain  find  some  apology 
even  for  them^  he  connected  with  his  dijing  prayer  for 
their  forgiveness,  this  most  charitable  expression, — 
<  They  know  not  what  they  do.'  So  long  as  his  tongue 
could  move,  it  moved  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  kind- 
ness ;  so  long  as  his  heart  continued  to  beat,  it  beat 
throbs  of  compassion  for  his  enemies  and  murderers. — 
Others  have  exhibited  a  high  degree  of  tenderness  and 
magnanimity ;  but  who  that  contemplates  Jesus  upon 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  159 

the  cross  will  not  acknowledge  that  he  infinitely  exceeds 
them  all  ? 

I  have  held  up  before  you  the  character  of  Mohamed 
and  the  character  of  Jesus ;  and  now  I  ask  you  whether 
the  former  is  not  in  every  respect  worthy  of  an  impostor ; 
the  latter  in  every  respect  worthy  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 
If  we  knew  nothing  of  the  system  of  Mohamed  apart 
from  his  general  character,  could  we  hesitate  for  a  mo- 
ment to  decide  that  it  could  not  be  of  heavenly  origin? 
If  we  knew  nothing  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  apart  from 
the  life  which  he  lived  and  the  death  which  he  died, 
should  we  not  unhesitatingly  conclude  that  it  had  re- 
ceived the  stamp  of  divine  authority  ? 
It  only  remains  to  contrast  these  systems, 

IV.  In  their  influence  on  the  world. 
And  here  I  must  concede,  at  the  outset,  that  the  con- 
trast on  this  point  loses,  in  no  small  degree,  its  force, 
from  the  consideration  that  Christianity  has  suffered  so 
much  in  the  hands  of  her  professed  friends.  Her  histo- 
ry, for  many  ages,  instead  of  being  the  record  of  the 
pure  and  simple  religion  which  Jesus  established,  exhi- 
bits httle  else  than  a  succession  of  the  most  abominable 
corruptions  which  had  come  in  under  her  hallowed  name: 
And  where  the  great  principles  of  Christianity  were  lost 
eight  of,  it  were  not  to  be  expected  that  the  mere  name 
would  carry  with  it  any  wonderful  power.  Hence,  if 
we  will  form  a  proper  estimate  of  the  actual  effects  she 
has  produced,  we  must  look  chiefly  at  the  earlier  and  the 
later  periods  of  her  history ;  must  view  her  as  she  was 
before  she  was  fettered  by  the  spirit  of  the  world,  and 
as  she  has  been,  since  she  was  disenthralled  by  the  spirit 
of  the  reformation.  And  I  venture  to  say  that,  just  in 
proportion  as  her  legitimate  influences  have  been  felt,  she 


160  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

has  contributed  to  improve  the  character,  and  elevate  the 
condition,  of  man. 

1.  Mohamedism  Aa5  always  been  the  foe,  Christiani- 
ty the  friend,  of  iyitellectiial  improvement. 

The  country  in  which  Mohamed  first  planted  his 
standard,  as  it  was  at  that  time,  has  been  ever  since, 
overrun,  to  a  great  extent,  with  barbarism.  As  he  took 
advantage  of  the  intellectual  degradation  of  the  Arabians 
for  the  introduction  of  his  system,  so  the  system  which 
he  imposed  upon  them  was  adapted  to  render  that  de- 
gradation perpetual.  And  as  it  has  been  in  Arabia,  so 
it  has  been  in  every  other  country  where  the  authority 
of  Mohamed  has  been  recognised :  a  darkness  that  can 
be  felt  has  settled  over  the  people ;  learning  has  not  only 
been  neglected,  but  actually  despised ;  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences have  been  alike  frowned  upon  by  publick  opinion ; 
and  a  deep  pause  has  ensued  in  every  thing  connected 
with  the  progress  of  civilization.  So  long  has  this  night 
of  barbarism  lasted,  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  coun- 
tries choose  darkness  rather  than  hght;  and  the  least 
beam  of  intellectual  sunshine  becomes  painful  to  their 
diseased  vision. 

But  wherever  genuine  Christianity  has  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  exerting  her  influence,  she  has  always  been 
found  an  efficient  auxiliary  in  the  cause  of  intellectual 
improvement.  Not  to  insist  upon  the  fact  that  many 
who  have  rendered  the  greatest  service  to  the  interests  of 
learning  have  been  most  deeply  imbued  with  Christiani- 
ty as  a  vital  and  practical  principle, — who  that  knows 
any  thing  of  the  past  need  Idc  told  that  the  era  of  the 
Reformation  was  also  the  era  of  the  revival  of  letters ; 
that  then  Christianity  and  learning  which  had  been  im- 
prisoned together  for  ages,  came  forth  hand  in  hand,  to 
scatter  their  united  blessings  over  the  world?     Where  do 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  161 

we  find  the  greatest  improvements  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  science  and  literature  at  the  present  day,  but 
in  those  countries  where  the  gospel  is  known  and  its  in- 
stitutions are  estabhshed  ?  And  if  we  Hmit  our  view  to 
our  own  country,  where  do  we  find  learning  in  the  high- 
est repute,  and  its  institutions  sustained  with  the  most 
exemplary  care  ?  Is  it  in  those  regions  where  even  the 
forms  of  Christianity  are  scarcely  recognised;  or  is  it 
not  rather  where  the  Bible  is  to  be  found  in  every  dwel- 
ling, and  a  church  in  every  neighbourhood,  and  where 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  have  been  long  established 
and  reverently  regarded?  I  know  indeed  that  the  ge- 
neral remark  which  I  have  here  made  has  its  exceptions, 
and  that  Pagan  Greece  and  Rome  rose  to  a  high  pitch 
of  intellectual  refinement ;  and  I  know  too  that  many  in 
Christian  countries  who  appear  to  have  drank  deeply  into 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  are  unreasonably  and  culpably 
inattentive  to  the  cultivation  of  their  minds :  neverthe- 
less, I  appeal  confidently  to  the  history  of  the  world  for 
evidence  that  true  Christianity  has  always  been  pre- 
eminently the  friend  of  sound  learning;  and  that,  in 
comparison  with  any  other  religion,  and  especially  Mo- 
bamedism,  her  influence  in  this  respect  has  been  most 
benign  and  extensive. 

It  would  be  easy  to  account  for  this  difference  of  which 
I  have  here  spoken  by  a  reference  to  the  elements  of  the 
two  systems.  Mohamedism,  from  its  very  constitution, 
is  fitted  to  cramp  the  intellectual  faculties,  and  contract 
the  field  of  intellectual  vision.  The  great  object  which 
it  proposes — the  attainment  of  a  sensual  paradise, — is  lit- 
tle adapted  to  kindle  the  fires  of  genius,  or  put  the  mind 
to  the  cultivation  of  its  own  powers.  The  evil  passions 
which  it  cherishes,  the  vices  which  it  permits  and  justi- 
fies, have  a  tendency  to  cloud  the  understanding  and 
14* 


162  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

impair  its  vigor.  It  recognises  all  the  treasures  of  human 
knowledge  as  concentrated  in  the  Koran,  and  condemns 
every  thing  which  is  not  found  there  as  spurious  and  vile; 
when  the  character  of  the  Koran  is  actually  such  that 
he  who  should  have  learned  every  thing  which  it  con- 
tains,— though  he  would  have  learned  something  that 
was  true  and  valuable, — would  yet  have  gathered  fables 
and  absurdities  enough  to  neutralize  it.  But  Christiani- 
ty, on  the  contrary,  powerfully  impels  to  intellectual  ac- 
tion. First  of  all,  she  enlightens  man  in  respect  to  his 
destiny ;  and  brings  to  his  view  a  reward  which  is  wor- 
thy of  his  intellectual  nature.  She  presses  him  with  his 
responsibility  both  to  God  and  man  for  the  cultivation  of 
his  powers ;  she  leads  him  into  a  field  of  glorious  disco- 
veries, and  brings  him  in  contact  with  truths  which  the 
mind  cannot  steadily  contemplate  without  having  its  fa- 
culties invigorated  ;  and  finally  she  opens  a  passage  into 
the  understanding  through  the  affections  by  refining  and 
elevating  them,  so  as  to  render  them  a  proper  medium 
for  the  communication  of  intellectual  fight.  And  thus 
it  appears  not  only  that  genuine  Christianity  has  always 
been  the  friend,  and  Mohamedism  always  the  foe,  of 
mental  improvement,  but  from  the  nature  of  the  case  it 
always  7}iust  be  so,  while  each  retains  its  appropriate 
constitution. 

2.  Mohamedism  has  exerted  a  withering  injluence; 
Christianity,  a  fostering  influence,  on  the  moral  vir- 
tues. 

The  spirit  which  characterized  Mohamed  he  succeed- 
ed so  admirably  in  incorporating  into  iiis  system,  that 
his  followers  in  every  age  have  been  most  strikingly  im- 
bued with  his  own  prominent  peculiarities.  Particular- 
ly, the  inveterate  enmity  which  he  manifested  towards 
all  who  refused  to  acknowledge  his  authority,  has  been 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  163 

propagated  through  all  the  generations  of  his  disciples  ; 
and  at  this  day  it  is  enough  for  a  Moharnedan  to  know 
that  the  man  whom  he  meets  does  not  acknowledge  the 
authority  of  the  Prophet,  to  justify  it  to  his  conscience 
in  refusing  to  him  the  common  offices  of  humanity,  or, 
as  the  case  may  be,  in  bathing  his  hands  in  his  blood. 
Every  nation  which  has  embraced  the  Mohamedan  faith 
regards  all  other  nations  with  an  implacable  hatred; 
and  if  they  are  restrained  from  openly  oppressive  and 
violent  acts,  it  is  only  from  a  consciousness  of  their  ina- 
bility to  triumph  in  the  conflict  which  such  a  course 
would  involve.  And  with  this  unsocial  and  hostile  spi- 
rit as  it  respects  other  nations,  has  been  uniformly  con- 
nected the  almost  unrestrained  indulgence  of  the  baser 
passions ; — vices  in  the  practice  of  which  man  seems  to 
forget  his  aUiance  to  any  other  species  than  the  brutes. 
Truth  and  justice,  purity  and  charity, — though,  as 
words,  they  may  have  a  place  in  the  vocabulary  of  the 
Mussulman,  yet,  as  living  qualities,  constitute  no  part  of 
his  character. 

I  surely  need  not  undertake  to  prove  to  you  that  what- 
soever things  are  pure,  lovely,  honest  and  of  good  report, 
are  among  the  legitimate  fruits  of  Christianity.  And 
wherever  this  religion  has  prevailed  in  any  tolerable 
degree  of  purity,  these  fruits  have  been  delightfully  ma- 
nifest. It  has  constituted,  and  every  thing  indicates  that 
it  is  destined  in  a  still  higher  degree  to  constitute,  a  sort 
of  common  bond  of  union  among  the  nations  by  whom 
it  is  professed ;  and  while  it  has  inspired  them  with 
more  liberal  sentiments,  bringing  them  to  regard  each 
other  as  belonging  to  one  universal  family,  it  has  served 
greatly  to  increase  their  mutual  intercourse,  and  thus 
render  them  instrumental  of  promoting  the  common 
prosperity.     Let  true  Christianity  become  universal,  and 


164  CHRISTIANITY    CONTHASTED 

if  any  thing  is  to  be  known  by  the  past  and  the  present, 
national  jealousies  and  discords  will  be  entirely  banished, 
and  the  earth  will  bloom  into  one  bright  field  of  publick 
and  private  virtue. 

Here  again,  you  need  only  glance  at  the  two  systems 
to  perceive  the  tendencies  to  virtue  in  the  one,  the  ten- 
dencies to  vice  in  the  other.  Some  of  the  first  principles 
of  Mohamedism  are  utterly  subversive  of  the  social  and 
moral  virtues  ;  and  no  man  can  practically  adopt  them, 
but  that  his  heart  must  become  as  dark  as  midnight, 
and  as  cold  as  winter.  But  every  thing  belonging  to 
Christianity  is  adapted  to  form  the  soul  to  the  love  and 
practice  of  virtue.  She  requires  virtue  in  the  highest 
perfection;  she  proffers  to  it  the  noblest  reward;  she 
furnishes  all  needed  motives  and  helps  to  the  attainment 
of  it ;  and  whoever  yields  to  her  influence,  must,  from 
the  necessity  of  the  case,  possess  a  truly  virtuous  cha- 
racter. 

3.  Mohamedism  has  always  been  identified  with  a 
despotick government :  Christianity  has  connected  her- 
self indiscri/ininately  with  every  form  of  government. 

In  its  very  nature  Mohamedism  is  a  system  of  tyran- 
ny. It  proposes  nothing  less  than  to  take  a  despotick 
cognizance  of  the  whole  man — body  and  spirit;  and 
every  nation  that  receives  the  Koran,  thereby  tamely 
surrenders  its  rights,  and  consents  to  be  ruled  with  a  rod 
of  iron.  Hence  we  find  that,  wherever  this  religion  has 
prevailed,  freedom,  if  it  have  before  existed,  has  become 
extinct ;  and  nations  have  worn  with  the  most  abject 
submission  the  chains  that  have  been  foiged  for  them. 
No  matter  in  what  part  of  the  world  their  lot  may  have 
been  cast,  or  to  what  diversity  of  physical  influences 
they  may  have  been  subjected;  no  matter  what  may 
have  iDcen  their  previous  character,  or  their  previous  his- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  165 

tory ;  from  the  hour  they  have  embraced  the  Mohame- 
dan  faith,  their  condition  in  this  respect  has  been  the 
same, — that  of  entire  subjection  to  an  absolute  despot ; 
and  if  ages  have  since  rolled  over  them,  they  have  been 
ages  of  deep  and  ignoble  servitude.  The  successors  of 
Mohamed,  though  they  do  not  claim  his  prophetical  cha- 
racter, do  claim  his  regal  authority ;  and  in  the  exercise 
of  that  authority,  are  as  stern,  and  oppressive,  and  un- 
relenting, as  was  the  original  founder  of  the  system. 

But  the  Christian  religion,  instead  of  being  the  exclu- 
sive ally  of  despotism,  much  less  being  in  its  constitu- 
tion essentially  despotick,  has  linked  itself  with  all  the 
various  forms  of  government  which  exist  upon  the  earth. 
In  the  few  instances  in  which  it  has  been  associated 
with  a  despotick  government,  it  has  served,  at  least  to 
some  extent,  to  limit  its  usurpations  and  mitigate  its  se- 
verity; and  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  purity  in  which 
it  exists,  just  and  liberal  views  of  the  science  of  govern- 
ment are  found  to  prevail.  It  is  the  progress  of  publick 
opinion  enlightened  and  guided  by  Christianity  which 
is  gradually  working  a  change  in  the  different  govern- 
ments on  the  continent  of  Europe ;  and  one  great  rea- 
son why  that  change  is  not  more  rapid  is,  that  Chris- 
tianity in  those  countries  works  at  great  disadvantage, 
from  being  still  burdened  for  the  most  part  with  a  mass 
of  corruptions.  The  more  free  and  popular  governments 
of  Great  Britain  and  of  our  own  country  are  monuments 
of  the  liberalizing  influence  of  our  religion ; — pledges 
that  the  universal  prevalence  of  Christianity  will  be  the 
harbinger  of  the  universal  triumph  of  freedom. 
After  what  has  been  said,  I  hardly  need  add, 
4.  That  Mohamedism  has  mai?itained  a  steady  ivar 
against  human  happiness :  Christianity  has  scattered 
innumerable  blessings  over  the  path  of  life. 


166 


CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 


For  how  can  it  be  imagined  otherwise,  when  we  take 
into  view  the  opposite  influences  which  the  two  systems 
exert  upon  the  character  and  condition  of  man?  Is 
not  inteUigence  an  ingredient  in  human  happiness?  Is 
not  a  deep  and  debasing  ignorance  to  be  deprecated  as 
an  evil  ?  Christianity  refines  and  exalts  the  intellect, 
and  causes  it  to  become  fruitful  in  great  and  burning 
thoughts,  and  guides  it  through  fields  of  truth  and  glory 
which  it  is  a  luxury  to  traverse ;  while  Mohamedism 
keeps  the  soul  always  in  chains,  and  represses  its  native 
longings  for  knowledge,  and  shuts  it  up  to  the  view  of 
objects  which  have  a  tendency  to  bring  over  it  the  rust 
of  inaction.  Are  not  the  social  virtues  adapted  to  make 
man  happy  ?  And  is  not  misery  legitimately  generated 
by  selfishness  and  hcentiousness,  by  all  the  baser  and 
aU  the  fiercer  passions  ?  Cliristianity  inculcates  univer- 
sal purity  and  good  will ;  and  so  far  as  her  influence  is 
permitted  to  operate,  she  forms  man  to  a  benevolent 
temper,  and  makes  him  studious  of  promoting  the  hap- 
piness of  his  fellow  man ;  while  Mohamedism  inspires 
him  with  malignant  distrust  and  savage  cruelty,  and 
even  arms  him  with  weapons  to  shed  his  brother's  blood. 
Is  not  Freedom  the  sister  of  Charity,  the  mother  of  so- 
cial happiness  ?  Are  not  degradation  and  debasement 
the  legitimate  oflfspring  of  Servitude  ?  But  Christianity 
breaks  the  rod  of  the  tyrant  and  lets  the  oppressed  go 
free ;  while  Mohamedism  rules  not  only  with  an  iron 
but  a.  bloody  sceptre,  and  spurns  at  the  very  name  of 
Liberty  as  if  it  were  a  curse  to  the  world.  Now  I  ask 
again,  does  not  the  one  system  combine  in  a  high  degree 
the  elements  of  human  happiness ;  the  other  in  an  equal 
degree  the  elements  of  human  wo  ?  Can  you  conceive 
of  a  nation  that  is  intelligent,  virtuous  and  free,  that  is 
not  happy  ?     Can  you  conceive  of  a  nation  sunk  in  ig- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  167 

norance,  debased  by  crimej  enslaved  by  despotism,  in 
whose  lot  there  is  any  thing  that  deserves  the  name  of 
happiness? 

I  know  of  no  fact  on  record  which  illustrates  more 
strikingly  the  opposite  influences  of  the  two  systems 
on  human  happiness,  especially  on  the  social  and  kindly 
affections,  than  that  recorded  by  the  venerable  Doctor 
Buchanan  concerning  Abdallah  and  Sabat,  which 
occurred  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century. — 
These  two  individuals,  both  belonging  to  distinguished 
families  in  Arabia,  were  intimate  friends,  and  set  out  to 
travel  together  in  foreign  countries.  Having  passed 
through  Persia  and  reached  the  city  of  Cabul,  Abdallah, 
in  consequence  of  being  appointed  to  an  important  officq 
in  the  government,  remained  there,  while  Sabat  conti- 
nued his  travels  through  Tartary.  The  former,  before 
he  had  resided  long  at  Cabul,  met  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and,  in  consequence  of  reading  it,  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  Christian  faith.  As  he  knew  that  his  con- 
version, if  it  were  known,  would  be  treated  as  a  capital 
offence,  he  withdrew  privately  from  the  place  of  his  re- 
sidence, and  set  out  to  travel,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a 
place  where  he  might,  without  jeoparding  his  life,  enjoy 
his  religion.  While  he  was  walking  in  the  streets  of 
Bochara,  a  city  of  Tartary,  he  was  surprised  by  meet- 
ing his  former  fellow  traveller ;  but  Sabat,  who  had,  in 
the  mean  time,  heard  of  his  apostacy  from  Mohamed- 
ism,  showed  him  at  once  that  he  was  no  longer  his 
friend.  Abdallah  fell  at  his  feet,  and  with  tears  conjured 
him  by  their  former  friendship  to  save  his  life ;  but  Sa- 
bat's  heart  was  as  unrelenting  as  the  grave.  He  has- 
tened to  the  authorities  of  the  city,  and  took  measures  to 
have  him  delivered  up  to  the  king ;  and  forthwith  the 
decree  was  issued  for  his  execution  ;  and  a  herald  went 


168  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

through  the  city  pul^lickly  proclaiming  it.  When  the 
fatal  hour  arrived,  Abdallah  was  led  forth  in  the  pre- 
sence of  an  immense  multitude  to  receive  the  crown 
of  martyrdom.  Sabat  also  mingled  in  the  crowd,  and 
stood  within  sight  of  his  friend  who  was  about  to  die. 
When  all  things  were  arranged  for  the  bloody  transac- 
tion, Abdallah  was  offered  his  life  if  he  would  recant ; 
but  he  unhesitatingly  refused  to  comply  with  the  condi- 
'tion.  The  executioner  who  stood  before  him  with  his 
sword,  then  began  his  work,  by  cutting  off  one  of  his 
hands  ;  upon  which  he  was  again  offered  his  life  upon 
the  same  condition,  while  a  surgeon  stood  ready  to  heal 
the  wound;  but  he  held  his  purpose  with  unshaken 
firmness.  And  he  bowed  his  head  to  receive  the  fatal 
blow  with  a  meekness  and  dignity  which  would  not 
have  dishonoured  the  first  martyr  to  Christianity.  Sa- 
bat afterwards  said  that  Abdallah  looked  at  him  in  the 
crowd,  but  it  was  a  look  not  of  anger  bat  of  pity ; — a 
look  which  evinced  the  same  spirit  which  Jesus  mani- 
fested when  he  said,  in  reference  to  his  murderers,  "Fa- 
ther, forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do !" 

Sabat  seems  to  have  been  impressed  with  the  convic- 
tion that  Abdallah  would  certainly  renounce  Christiani- 
ty rather  than  yield  up  his  life ;  but  when  he  saw  that 
his  friend  had  actually  been  murdered  through  his  in- 
strumentahty,  he  became  wretched :  that  forgiving  look 
which  Abdallah,  in  the  moment  of  his  martyrdom,  had 
fastened  upon  him,  haunted  him  wherever  he  went; 
and  he  pursued  his  journey  in  the  hope  of  finding  rest 
to  his  troubled  spirit.  At  length  he  reached  India ;  and 
while  he  was  employed  there  in  some  publick  capacity, 
he  too  was  induced  to  read  the  New  Testament  and 
compare  it  with  the  Koran ;  the  result  of  which  was 
that  he  professedly  renounced  Mohamedism,  publickly 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  169 

professed  his  faith  in  Christianityj  and  for  several  years 
was  an  active  and  useful  co-adjutor  with  the  British  mis- 
sionaries in  India  in  the  great  objects  to  which  they  were 
devoted.  When  his  friends  in  Arabia  heard  of  his  con- 
version, they  immediately  despatched  his  brother  to  In- 
dia with  a  view  to  assassinate  him.  The  brother  en- 
tered his  dwelling  in  the  disguise  of  a  beggar,  with  an 
instrument  of  death  concealed  in  his  bosom ;  and  had 
actually  drawn  it  forth,  and  was  in  the  act  of  attempting 
the  fatal  deed,  when  Sabat  seized  the  assassin's  arm,  and 
his  servants  instantly  came  to  his  deliverance.  It  was 
through  Sabat's  intercession  in  his  brother's  behalf  that 
his  life  was  not  sacrificed  at  the  altar  of  public  justice : 
he  evinced  toward  him  a  forgiving  and  fraternal  spirit, 
and  sent  him  away  in  peace  with  letters  and  valuable 
presents  to  his  mother's  family. 

It  had  been  well  if  this  interesting  transaction  had 
occupied  the  last  chapter  in  Sabat's  eventful  history;  for 
what  remains  to  be  told  only  disappoints  the  hopes  which 
his  previous  course  had  awakened.  At  the  time  when 
Doctor  Buchanan  stated  the  preceding  facts  in  his  cele- 
brated sermon  entitled  '•  The  Star  in  the  East,"  he  re- 
garded Sabat  as  evincing  in  an  unusual  degree  the 
Christian  spirit,  and  as  probably  destined  to  do  more  for 
the  conversion  of  his  countrymen  than  any  other  man. 
But  shortly  after  this,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  who 
had  been  conversant  with  him,  he  suddenly  took  the 
fancy  that  his  great  powers  and  acquirements  were  not 
adequately  estimated,  and  in  a  fit  of  resentment  openly 
renounced  Christianity,  again  avowed  his  belief  in  Mo- 
hamedism,  and  went  into  Persia  where  he  wrote  a  work 
to  refute  the  system  which  he  had,  for  several  years,  so 
successfully  laboured  to  vindicate  and  extend.  After 
that,  he  professed,  for  a  short  time,  to  return  to  Chris- 

15 


170  CHRISTIANITY   CONTRASTED 

tianity,  and  wrote  to  one  of  the  missionaries  that,  from 
the  time  of  his  apostacy,  he  had  not  heen  able  to  find 
rest  for  the  sole  of  his  foot ;  but,  at  a  still  later  period, 
and  so  far  as  is  known,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
ranked  himself  among  the  followers  of  Mohamed. — 
About  1811  he  travelled  in  Pegu,  where  he  was  con- 
cerned in  some  treasonable  attempts  against  the  reign- 
ing prince;  and  being  detected,  he  and  his  fellow  con- 
spirator were  put  together  in  a  sack  and  thrown  into  the 
sea.  Thus  ended  the  career  of  a  man  who,  for  several 
years,  was  the  constant  companion  of  some  of  the  best 
of  men,  and  their  co-adjutor  in  the  best  of  causes. 

I  ask  you  now,  my  friends,  to  observe  how  the  spirit 
of  Mohamedism  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity  each  come? 
out  in  these  affecting  incidents ;  how  much  of  meekness, 
and  tenderness,  and  benignity,  appertains  to  the  one, 
how  much  of  distrust,  and  revenge,  and  cruelty,  apper- 
tains to  the  other.  Observe  the  meeting  in  the  streets 
of  Cabul ;  and  see  Abdallah  the  Christian  upon  his 
knees  importunately  begging  for  his  hfe,  and  Sabat  the 
Mohamedan  disregarding  the  entreaties  of  his  friend, 
and  eagerly  adopting  measures  which  are  to  result  in 
his  death.  Observe  what  takes  place  at  the  scene  of 
execution:  Abdallah  casts  upon  Sabat  a  forgiving  look; 
and  lifts  his  eyes  to  Heaven  as  if  in  supplication  for  the 
forgiveness  of  his  murderers ;  but  the  kindness  of  his 
spirit  does  nothing  to  arrest  the  murderous  procedure.—^ 
And  then  compare  Sabat's  conduct — I  cannot  say  while 
he  was  a  true  Christian, — for  that  he  evidently  never 
was, — but  while  he  was  a  frofessor  of  Christianity,  and 
seemed  to  be  imbued  with  its  spirit,  with  his  conduct 
while  he  avowed  himself  a  disciple  of  Mohamed ;  and 
see  how,  under  the  influence  of  the  one  system,  he  could 
deliver  up  his  friend  to  death, — how,  even  under  the  par- 


WITH    MOHAMEDISM.  171 

tial  influence  of  the  other,  he  could  forgive  tlie  brother 
who  had  come  from  afar  to  stab  him  to  the  heart.  Who 
can  contemplate  this  affecting  story  without  being  deeply 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  Christianity  is  a  reU- 
gion  of  love ;  that  Mohamedism  finds  its  element  amidst 
scenes  of  treachery  and  blood  ? 

In  contrasting  Christianity  with  Deism,  as  I  have 
done  in  the  preceding  discourse,  I  had  in  view  the  dou- 
ble object  of  guarding  you  against  the  snares  of  infideli- 
ty, and  building  you  up  in  the  most  holy  faith.  But  I 
shall  have  gained  my  purpose  in  this  discourse,  if  the 
effect  of  it  shall  be  to  enlarge  and  exalt  your  views  of 
Christianity ;  for  none  of  you,  I  am  sure,  need  to  be  cau- 
tioned against  resting-  in  the  wild  delusions  and  absurd 
vagaries  of  Mohamedism.  You  have  seen  that,  while 
both  systems  claim  to  be  of  divine  original,  the  one  bears 
the  most  unequivocal  evidences  of  authenticity,  the  other 
is  indelibly  stamped  with  the  seal  of  imposture.  As  the 
brightness  of  noonday  seems  more  intense  when  con- 
trasted with  the  darkness  of  midnight,  as  the  verdure  of 
spring  seems  more  enchanting  when  contrasted  with  the 
dreariness  of  winter,  as  virtue  herself  gathers  fresh  at- 
tractions when  contrasted  with  the  deformity  of  vice,  so 
the  truth  and  grace  and  lovehness  of  Christianity  never 
appear  to  greater  advantage,  than  when  viewed  in  con- 
trast with  the  forbidding  and  malignant  features  of  Mo- 
hamedism. When  you  view  the  impostor  burning  with 
ambition  and  wading  in  blood,  how  incomparably  love- 
ly appears  the  disinterestedness,  the  condescension,  of 
the  Redeemer  in  giving  his  own  blood  for  the  salvation 
of  men !  When  you  contemplate  the  one  forcing  his 
religion  upon  the  world  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  what 
say  you  of  the  other,  who  carries  every  thing  by  the 
power  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit  ?     When  you 


172  CHRISTIANITY    CONTRASTED 

see  the  religion  which  was  established  by  the  one  ope- 
rating as  a  blight  upon  useful  knowledge  and  moral  vir- 
tue, systematically  cherishing  the  worst  passions  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  checking  the  native  aspirings  of  the 
soul  for  freedom,  are  you  not  more  than  ever  enraptured 
by  the  religion  which  was  established  by  the  other,  a^^ 
you  see  it  moving  like  an  angel  of  mercy  through  the 
world  ?  Truly  Christianity  is  the  daughter  of  the  skies. 
Her  native  element  is  light  and  love.  Her  errand  upon 
the  earth  is  to  enhghten,  and  bless  and  save ;  and  when 
that  errand  shall  be  fully  accomplished,  she  will  return 
to  dwell  in  her  native  Heavens. 

But  while  we  eulogize  Christianity,  my  friends,  let  us 
take  heed  that  we  do  not  live  strangers  to  her  regenera- 
ting power.  While  we  profess  to  be  grateful  that  we 
are  surrounded  by  the  splendours  of  the  Sun  of  Righ- 
teousness, let  it  not  be  told  to  our  confusion  at  last,  that 
we  have,  in  the  most  important  sense,  chosen  darkness 
rather  than  light.  If  the  only  advantage  we  derive 
from  the  gospel  is  the  melioration  of  our  external  condi- 
tion, be  assured  the  day  will  come  when  this  very  gospel 
will  be  to  us  a  fierce  minister  of  condemnation ;  when 
we  shall  look  back  upon  our  Christian  privileges  in  the 
agony  of  remorse,  and  envy  the  lot  of  those  who  have 
perished  in  Mohamedan  darkness.  Look  away  to  those 
nations  sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death,  and 
let  them  have  your  sympathy  and  charity  and  prayers; 
but  forget  not  to  look  inward  upon  your  own  hearts,  and 
see  if  the  word  of  truth  have  had  its  legitimate  influence 
in  making  you  wise  and  holy  unto  salvation. 


LECTURE  V. 


PROTESTANT  CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH 
ROMANISM. 


II.  Thessalonians  II.  3. 

For  that  day  shall  not  come,  except  there  come  a  falling 
away  first. 

IN  CONNEXION  WITH 

Galatians  v.   1. 

Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  liberty  whereioith  Christ  hath 
made  us  free,  and  be  not  entangled  again  with  the  yoke  of 


As  the  great  Creator,  when  he  had  completed  his 
handy  work,  looked  forth  upon  it,  and  pronounced  all 
very  good,  so  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
when  they  had  finished  theij^  work  in  the  introduction 
of  Christianity,  beheld  in  the  result  of  their  efforts  a  sys- 
tem of  matchless  beauty  and  mighty  power.  The  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel  were  then  received  in  their  native 
purity ;  the  institutions  of  the  gospel  were  established  in 
their  native  simplicity ;  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  was  acted 
out  in  its  native  loveliness ;  and  so  far  as  the  influence 
of  the  gospel  was  felt,  the  moral  waste  brightened  into  a 
15* 


174  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

field  of  moral  beauty.  That  was  indeed  the  morning 
of  the  new  dispensation ;  but  it  was  a  morning  without 
clouds.  That  was  the  infancy  of  Christianity  ;  but  the 
principle  of  immortal  life  which  animated  her  discovered 
itself  in  bold  and  vigorous  pulsations ;  insomuch  that, 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  eighteen  centuries,  we  are 
constrained  to  acknowledge  that  the  days  of  her  infancy 
were  the  days  of  her  greatness  and  power. 

But  scarcely  had  the  Apostles  to  whose  immediate 
care  Christ  had  committed  the  concerns  of  his  kingdom, 
followed  their  Master  to  Heaven,  before  a  disposition  be- 
gan to  manifest  itself  in  the  church,  to  alter  and  amend 
this  last  and  noblest  product  of  infinite  wisdom.  The 
first  departure  fi-om  the  primitive  simplicity  of  the  gospel 
was  so  slight  as  hardly  to  be  recognised  as  an  invasion 
of  Christ's  authority,  even  by  those  who  were  most  jea- 
lous for  his  honour ;  but  you  need  not  be  told  that  it 
proved  the  beginning  of  an  apostacy  which  has  caused 
ages  of  weeping  to  the  faithful,  and  from  which  the 
church  has  only  yet  begun  to  recover.  When  the  first 
step  in  the  career  of  defection  had  been  taken,  the  next 
was  taken  with  the  greater  ease ;  and  gradually  a  migh- 
ty system  of  corruption  grew  up  in  which  the  doctrines 
and  institutions  of  the  gospel  were  distorted  into  an  un- 
natural and  unlovely  shape,  and  which  retained  scarcely 
any  thing  of  Christianity  but  the  venerable  name. — 
Within  a  few  centuries  after  the  apostolick  age,  the 
Christian  church,  which,  in  her  beginning,  was  humble, 
and  spiritual  and  unpretending,  had  become  worldly, 
and  proud  and  ambitious.  She  had  invented  new  doc- 
trines, and  decreed  new  rites,  in  opposition  to  the  autho- 
rity of  her  Head.  She  had  witnessed  the  death  of  her 
spiritual  prosperity,  from  the  blighting  influence  of  errour 
and  strife  and  superstition,  and  seemed  to  hail  it  as  a 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  175 

blessing-,  rather  than  mourn  over  it  as  a  bereavement. 
She  had  surrounded  herself  with  the  insignia  of  tempo- 
ral dominion  and  the  splendours  of  worldly  greatness ; 
and  finally  she  became  the  seat  of  a  spiritual  despotism . 
and  mamtained  her  authority  by  the  most  desperate  out- 
rages upon  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  turned 
her  hand  with  perfect  coolness  to  the  pious  work  of  let- 
ting out  the  blood  of  every  heart  which  happened  not  to 
beat  in  unison  with  her  dictates.  Each  successive  age 
rolled  a  still  deeper  darkness  upon  the  world ;  and  though 
there  were  always  some  witnesses  for  the  truth,  yet  they 
were  obliged  to  bury  themselves  in  the  deepest  retirement, 
and  even  there,  were  Hable  to  be  found  out  by  the  search- 
ing hand  of  inquisitorial  cruelty,  and  made  to  atone  for 
the  purity  of  their  faith  by  the  sacrifice  of  their  blood. 

But  at  length  this  yoke  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny  which 
had  been  worn  for  ages,  as  if  men  had  supposed  them- 
selves made  for  no  other  purpose,  became  so  oppressive 
that  a  long  stifled  sensibility  began  to  recover  itself,  and 
here  and  there  Reason  uttered  forth  her  dictates,  and  so 
much  of  the  spirit  of  resistance  presently  appeared  as  to 
indicate  the  existence  of  a  mighty  hidden  fire.  In  the 
latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  John  Wickliffe 
arose  in  England,  and  a  few  years  later,  John  Huss  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,  on  the  continent,  who  ventured  to 
attack  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope  and  the  corruptions 
of  the  clergy  with  some  degree  of  boldness  ;  and  while 
the  blood  of  Huss  and  Jerome  which  had  stained  the 
altar  of  martyrdom  was  still  crying  to  Heaven  for  ven- 
geance, the  great  Luther  arose,  and  with  invincible  firm- 
ness put  his  hand  to  the  work  which  his  illustrious  pre- 
decessors had  commenced.  When  he  began  his  career, 
he  dreamed  not  where  it  would  terminate;  for  there 
were  only  some  gleams  of  hght  let  in  upon  his  mind, 


176  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

and  at  best  he  saw  men  but  as  trees  walking ;  but,  as 
he  advanced,  the  hght  became  clearer  and  stronger; 
and  he  saw  that  the  system  to  which  he  had  been  edu- 
cated had  rottenness  at  the  core;  and  he  determined 
with  the  heroism  of  a  martyr  to  prosecute  the  work  of 
reformation,  as  God  should  give  him  hght  to  discover 
where  it  was  needed,  and  strength  to  resist  the  power 
that  should  oppose  him.  And  while  this  bold  and  lofty 
purpose  was  maturing  in  the  mind  of  Luther,  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  was  forming  other  instmments  to 
be  employed  for  the  same  end :  Calvin  and  Melancthon, 
Zuingle,  and  Farel,  and  Yiret,  and  Knox,  had  been  in 
a  course  of  training  by  divine  Providence  to  become 
Luther's  co-adjutors ;  and  such  they  actually  became ; 
and  their  united  influence  was  as  the  lightning  which 
reacheth  from  one  end  of  heaven  even  to  the  other. — 
This  new  and  surprising  movement  was  met,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  with  the  most  desperate  resistance : 
not  only  the  ecclesiastics,  but  the  kings  and  nobles  of 
the  earth,  set  themselves  in  array  against  it,  professing 
to  regard  it  as  a  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  Hea- 
ven ;  but  the  cause  moved  forward  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts,  and  multitudes  avowed  themselves  its  friends  at 
the  hazard  of  a  martyr's  death.  Within  a  few  years 
from  the  time  that  Luther  first  publickly  attacked  the 
doctrine  of  indulgences,  the  standard  of  the  Reformation 
was  planted  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in  France,  Swit- 
zerland, Denmark,  Sweden  and  Britain  ;  and  this  glo- 
rious cause  has  been  gradually  going  forward,  not  indeed 
without  much  to  oppose  and  retard  its  progi-ess,  to  the 
present  hour.  In  nearly  all  the  countries  of  Europe  the 
Reformed  church  has  an  existence ;  but  in  several  of 
them,  as  you  are  well  aware,  it  occupies  but  a  subordi- 
nate place,  and  is  subject  to  extreme  embarrassments. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  177 

And  as  the  Reformation  has  been  gradual  in  its  progress 
among  the  nations,  so  it  were  not  to  be  expected  that  it 
should  at  once  have  become  complete  in  its  character : 
and  hence  we  find  that  the  Reformers,  great  and  good 
men  as  they  were,  differed  on  some  points  with  each 
other ;  and  the  Reformed  church  at  this  day  embraces 
a  variety  of  denominations;  agreeing  however,  with 
few  exceptions,  in  those  great  truths  which  the  first  Re- 
formers considered  fundamental.  Without  venturing  to 
claim  for  any  portion  of  Protestant  Christendom  abso- 
lute freedom  from  errour,  we  maintain  that  the  system  of 
doctrine  which  is  professed  by  most  of  the  Reformed 
churches  is,  in  all  its  general  features,  the  same  which 
the  early  Christians  were  taught  from  the  lips  of  the 
Apostles ;  and  on  every  point  upon  which  the  Protestant 
church  differs  from  the  Roman  CathoHc  church,  we,  of 
course,  maintain  that  it  does  so  by  the  authority  of  scrip- 
ture. 

The  former  of  the  two  passages  which  I  read  to  you 
at  the  beginning  of  this  discourse,  has  been  universally 
admitted  by  Protestant  commentators  to  refer  to  the 
Romish  hierarchy ;  and  it  were  easy  to  vindicate  this 
interpretation  from  all  the  objections  with  which  the 
Romanists  have  ever  opposed  it.  The  latter  passage 
was  designed  as  a  caution  to  the  Christians  of  Galatia 
not  to  yield  to  the  influence  of  those  judaizing  teachers 
who  insisted  on  the  perpetual  obligation  of  the  Mosaic 
law ;  but  it  fairly  admits  of  being  applied  to  all  Chris- 
tians in  reference  to  any  system  of  ecclesiastical  tyran- 
ny ;  and  especially  to  Protestant  Christians  in  reference 
to  that  system  which  Luther  and  Calvin  and  theii-  co- 
adjutors abjured  at  the  Reformation.  It  is  in  this  latter 
sense  exclusively  that  I  shall  consider  it  on  the  present 
occasion. 


178 


PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANTTY 


My  design  in  this  discourse  then  is  to  contrast  Pro- 
testant Christianity  with  Romanism:  And  I  shall  do 
this  in  respect  to 

I.  Their  agreement  with  scripture  : 

II.  Their  conformableness  to  Reason: 

III.  Their  claim  to  ANTiauiTY: 

IV.  Their  adaptation  to  human  nature  : 

V.  Their  effects  on  human  society. 

But  before  proceeding  to  the  consideration  of  this  con- 
trast, let  me  ask  your  attention  to  one  or  two  remarks. 

In  the  first  place,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  I 
do  not  deny  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church  the  honour 
of  having  embraced  in  her  rommunion  at  different  peri- 
ods many  illustrious  men ; — illustrious  ahke  for  their  ta- 
lents, their  eloquence  and  their  virtues.  Massillon,  and 
Fenelon,  and  Paschal,  were  Roman  Catholics ;  and 
brighter  names  than  these  we  do  not  often  meet  on  the 
page  of  modern  ecclesiastical  history.  And  there  have 
been  others  of  a  still  later  period,  who,  though  of  less 
distinguished  name,  have  fairly  commended  themselves 
to  the  grateful  regards  of  posterity.  These  men,  we 
cannot  suppose,  could  have  ever  fully  received  all  the 
absurdities  which  we  shall  see,  in  the  progress  of  this 
discourse,  belong  to  the  canons  of  the  church  with  which 
they  were  in  communion :  and  I  am  well  aware  that 
there  are  distinguished  ecclesiastics  at  this  day  who  pro- 
fess to  receive  their  articles  with  a  very  different  con- 
struction from  that  which  all  antiquity  has  given  to  them. 
Where  cases  of  this  kind  exist,  let  them  be  acknowledged; 
and  let  no  man  be  taxed  with  holding  inconsistencies 
which  he  honestly  disavows. 

In  the  next  place,  it  cannot  successfully  be  questioned 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  every  where,  in  re- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  179 

spect  to  its  practical  operation,  has  been  in  a  degree  soft- 
ened and  modified  by  the  prevaihng  spirit  of  improve- 
ment, and  especially  through  the  influence  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Compare  the  present  condition  of  Italy  and 
Spain,  where  Romanism  has  undergone  less  modifica- 
tion than  any  where  else,  with  the  condition  of  any  Ro- 
man Catholic  country  previous  to  the  Reformation,  and 
you  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  there  is  a  mighty 
difference  in  favour  of  the  former ;  that  though  there  is 
deep  darkness  prevailing  now,  yet  it  is  not  the  darkness 
of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  In  this  coun- 
try especially  the  more  revolting  features  of  Romanism 
have  hitherto  scarcely  been  seen ;  and  we  n(iay  safely 
say  that  the  system  never  can  exist  here,  even  in  that 
degree  of  absurdity  and  intolerance  by  which  it  is  charac- 
terized at  this  day  in  some  other  countries,  unless  it 
should  succeed  in  effectually  remodelling  our  institutions. 
You  will  be  convinced,  I  trust,  from  these  remarks, 
that  it  is  no  part  of  my  object  in  this  discourse  to  attack 
the  Romanists  in  the  spirit  of  wholesale  denunciation ; 
but  then  I  must  be  allowed  to  speak  out  my  honest  con- 
victions without  respect  to  any  considerations  of  supposed 
delicacy.  As  a  minister  of  Christ,  I  am  bound  to  vindi- 
cate the  truth  against  the  encroachments  of  errour;  and 
not  the  less  but  the  more,  when  errour  boldly  plants  it- 
self in  the  midst  of  us ;  because  I  am  set  for  the  defence 
of  the  gospel :— but  I  am  equally  bound  to  perform  this 
duty  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  kindness ;  for  the  servant 
of  the  Lord  must  be  gentle  and  not  strive,  and  must 
speak  the  truth  in  love.  That  I  may  not  even  seem  to 
do  injustice  to  the  Romanists,  I  shall  exhibit  their  system; 
not  as  it  may  be  collected  from  the  writings  of  their  op- 
posers,  but  as  it  is  found  in  their  own  standards; — 
standards  which  have  been  adopted  in  a  formal  manner, 


180  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

and  which  the  church  as  a  body  continues  to  recognise 
without  the  least  abatement  from  their  authority.  If  it 
be  said  that  there  are  individuals  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
communion  by  whom  many  of  the  doctrines  contained 
in  their  formularies  are  not  received,  I  have  only  to  reply 
that  so  far  they  are  not  Roman  Catholics ;  and  perhaps, 
when  they  shall  have  advanced  a  little  farther,  they  may 
be  disposed  to  renounce  the  whole  system.  If  I  were 
called  upon  to  state  the  views  of  religious  doctrine  which 
are  held  by  the  Presbyterian  church,  I  should  refer  to 
her  Confession  of  Faith :  a  similar  demand  in  respect  to 
the  Episcopal  church  I  should  meet  by  a  reference  to 
her  Thirty-Nine  Articles :  and  if  I  were  in  controversy 
with  either  of  these  bodies,  I  should  have  a  right  to  ap- 
peal to  one  or  other  of  these  public  formularies  as  con- 
taining the  sense  of  the  denomination ;  and  the  fact 
that  there  were  individuals  professing  to  be  Presbyteri- 
ans or  Episcopalians  who  rejected  these  standards  would 
not  at  all  abate  from  their  authority,  until  the  church 
by  a  publick  act  should  have  renounced  them.  On  pre- 
cisely the  same  ground  I  am  about  to  appeal  to  the 
standards  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church; — that  they 
have  not  only  never  been  authoritatively  set  aside,  but 
that  the  church  as  a  body  still  chngs  to  them  with  un- 
diminished pertinacity. 

Let  me  now  proceed  to  contrast  Protestant  Christiani- 
ty widi  Romanism, 
I.  In  respect  to  their  agreement  with  scripture. 

1.  Romanism  denies,  Protestant  Christianity  affirms, 
that  the  Holy  Scrij)tures  are  a  comj^lete  Rule  offaith^ 
independently  of  oral  traditions. 

The  decree  of  the  council  of  Trent  on  this  subject  is 
in  these  words  : — "All  saving  truth  is  not  contained  in 
the  Holy  Scripture,  but  partly  in  the  scripture,   and 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  181 

partly  in  unwritten  traditions;  which,  whosoever  doth 
not  receive  with  hke  piety  and  reverence  as  he  doth  the 
Scriptures,  is  accursed." 

Hear  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  see  which  side  of  the  ques- 
tion has  the  sanction  of  his  authority.  In  writing  to 
Timothy,  a  young  minister,  who,  it  was  exceedingly  de- 
sirable should  be  led  into  all  truth,  on  this  subject,  he 
declares  that  "  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  us 
wise  unto  salvation ;"  and  again,  that  "  all  scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness, 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works."  On  these  passages  it  may 
be  remarked  that,  if  the  "  Scriptures  are  able  to  make 
men  wise  unto  salvation,"  there  can  be  no  occasion  for 
unwritten  traditions ;  and  that,  if  the  man  of  God  can  be 
so  instructed  out  of  the  Scriptures  as  to  be  "  perfect,  tho- 
roughly furnished  unto  all  good  works,"  they  must  con- 
tain every  doctrine  and  precept  which  God  in  his  wis- 
dom has  been  pleased  to  reveal  for  the  edification  of  the 
body  of  Christ  or  the  conversion  of  the  world.  The 
Prophet  Isaiah  virtually  excludes  every  thing  else  than 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  a  Rule  of  faith,  when  he  says, 
"  To  the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony  :  if  they  speak  not 
according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them."  The  wise  man  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  says, 
"  Every  word  of  God  is  pure :  Add  thou  not  unto  his 
word,  lest  he  reprove  thee  and  thou  be  found  a  liar." — 
And  finally  John  in  the  Book  of  the  Revelation  declares, 
"I  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  Book,  if  any  man  shall  add  unto  them, 
God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in 
this  Book." 

16 


182  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

But  it  may  be  asked  whether  there  is  not  at  least  one 
passage  in  the  New  Testament,  in  which  the  observance 
of  unwritten  tradition  is  expressly  enjoined : — I  refer  to 
the  direction  of  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians  to  "  stand 
fast,  and  hold  the  traditions  which  they  had  been  taught, 
whether  by  word  or  epistle."  The  answer  to  this  inqui- 
ry is  that  this  direction  had  respect  to  the  canon  of  scrip- 
ture while  it  was  yet  incomplete  ;  and  at  the  time  the 
epistle  which  contains  it  was  written,  upon  a  liberal  al- 
lowance not  more  than  one-third  of  the  books  which 
now  compose  the  New  Testament,  were  in  existence. — 
Under  these  circumstances  it  requires  no  great  stretch  of 
credulity  to  suppose  that  the  things  which  Paul  had  de- 
livered, were  subsequently,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
committed  to  writing ;  and  that  the  entire  canon  of  scrip- 
tm'e  includes  the  very  things  which  are  referred  to  in 
this  passage  as  oral  traditions.  But  even  if  this  were 
not  insisted  upon,  we  could  never  concede  the  claim  of 
the  Romanists  in  regard  to  this  apostolick  direction,  un- 
til they  had  established  the  perfect  identity  of  their  tra- 
ditions with  the  traditions  of  the  Apostle ; — a  task  which 
we  may  safely  say  it  will  require  more  learning  and  in- 
genuity than  have  ever  yet  been  applied  to  it,  to  perform. 

2.  Romanism  'prohibits  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures hy  the  common  people :  Protestant  Christianity 
extends  this  privilege  to  all. 

In  the  fourth  Rule  of  the  Index  of  prohibited  books 
it  is  thus  decreed : — "  Inasmuch  as  it  is  manifest  from 
experience  that,  if  the  Holy  Bible,  translated  into  the 
vulgar  tongue,  be  indiscriminately  allowed  to  every  one, 
the  temerity  of  men  will  cause  more  evil  than  good  to 
arise  from  it,  it  is  on  this  point  referred  to  the  judgment 
of  the  bishops  or  inquisitors,  who  may,  by  the  advice  of 
the  priest  or  confessor,  permit  the  reading  of  the  Bible, 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  183 

translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue  by  Catholic  authors, 
to  those  persons  whose  faith  and  piety  they  apprehend 
will  be  augmented,  and  not  injured  by  it ;  and  this  per- 
mission they  must  have  in  writing.  But  if  any  one 
shall  have  the  presumption  to  read  or  possess  it  without 
such  written  permission,  he  shall  not  receive  absolution 
until  he  have  first  delivered  up  such  Bible  to  the  ordina- 
ry. Booksellers  who  shall  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
Bibles  in  the  vulgar  tongue  to  any  person  not  having 
such  permission,  shall  forfeit  the  value  of  the  books  to 
be  applied  by  the  Bishop  to  some  pious  use,  and  shall  be 
subjected  to  such  other  penalties  as  the  Bishop  shall 
judge  proper.  But  regulars  shall  neither  read  nor  pur- 
chase such  Bibles,  without  a  special  license  from  their 
superiors."  In  perfect  accordance  with  this  decree,  the 
late  Pontiff  Leo  XII.  in  a  Circular  Letter,  dated  May 
3d,  1824,  and  addressed  to  all  Patriarchs,  Primates, 
Arch-Bishops  and  Bishops,  holds  the  following  language: 
"  We  also,  venerable  brethren,  conformably  to  our  apos- 
tolical duty,  exhort  you  diligently  to  occupy  yourselves, 
by  all  means,  to  turn  away  your  flock  from  these  deadly 
pastures." — And  what  do  you  imagine  these  "deadly 
pastures"  are  ? — Why  nothing  less  than  the  Bible  which 
we  protestants  use  and  circulate,  and  which  this  arro- 
gant pontiff  had  just  before  termed  "  a  gospel  of  the 
devil!" 

Attend  now  to  what  the  Scripture  saith  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  see  whether  it  is  most  in  accordance  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  Romanists  or  of  the  Protestants.  "Search 
the  Scriptures"  is  the  direct  command  of  Jesus  Christ; — 
a  command  which,  from  its  very  nature,  as  well  as  from 
the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  delivered,  is  equally 
binding  upon  all  men.  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  charges  them  that  his  "  epistle  be  read  to  all  the 


184  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

holy  brethren."  In  his  epistles  to  the  Romans,  the  Co- 
rinthians, the  Galatians  and  the  Ephesians,  he  distinct- 
ly recognises  the  fact  that  he  is  addressing,  not  the  offi- 
cers of  the  churches  only,  but  "  all  that  call  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  James  addresses  his  epistle 
•'  to  the  twelve  tribes  that  are  scattered  abroad :"  Peter 
his  first  epistle  "  to  the  strangers  scattered  throughout 
Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  and  Bythinia ;"  and 
his  second  epistle  "  to  all  that  have  obtained  like  precious 
faith  with  us."  Now  I  ask  what  stronger  evidence  the 
Apostle  could  have  given  that  he  designed  these  epistles 
to  be  read  by  all  Christians  indiscriminately,  than  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  they  were  addressed  to  all  ?  And 
how  comes  it  to  pass  that  the  Bereans  were  commended 
by  apostolick  authority  for  the  dihgent  searching  of  the 
Scriptures,  if,  after  all,  it  is  a  sin  to  search  them,  unless 
by  the  special  permission  of  an  inquisitor? 

3.  Romanism  enjoins  the  worship  of  saints  and 
images :  Protestant  Christianity  maintains  that  God 
is  the  only  f  roper  object  of  religious  worshijj. 

In  the  creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.  it  is  thus  written : — 
"  I  also  believe  that  the  saints  who  reign  with  Christ, 
are  to  be  worshipped  and  prayed  to ;  and  that  their  re- 
licks  are  to  be  venerated."  And  again,  ''  I  most  firmly 
assert  that  the  images  of  Christ,  and  of  the  mother  of 
God,  who  was  always  a  virgin,  are  to  be  had  and  re- 
tained ;  and  that  due  honour  and  worship  is  to  be  given 
to  them."  And  the  Council  of  Trent  declares  that  "it 
is  lawful  to  represent  God  and  the  Holy  Trinity  by  ima- 
ges ;  and  that  the  images  and  relicks  of  Christ  and  the 
saints,  are  to  be  duly  honoured,  venerated  or  worshipped; 
and  that  in  this  veneration  or  worship  those  are  venera- 
ted which  are  represented  by  them." 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  185 

And  what  saith  the  Scripture  in  respect  to  the  object 
of  worship  ?  It  saith  "  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  It  saith  far- 
ther, "Thou  shall  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven 
image,  or  any  Ukeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  Heaven 
above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  wa- 
ter under  the  earth.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself 
to  them  nor  serve  them."  And  God  says  by  his  servant 
to  the  people  of  Israel,  "  Take  ye,  therefore,  heed  unto 
yourselves,  (for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  on  the 
day  that  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb  out  of 
the  midst  of  the  fire,)  lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves,  and 
make  you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any  figure, 
the  Ukeness  of  male  or  female."  The  whole  tenor  of 
Scripture  on  this  subject  is  in  full  accordance  with  these 
passages :  judge  then  whether  the  doctrine  of  the  Ro- 
manists or  of  the  Protestants  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible. 

4.  Romanism  prescribes  the  celebration  of  religions 
worship  in  a  language  which  is  unintelligible  to  the 
people:  Protestant  Christianity  requires  that  divine 
service  be  performed  in  a  language  which  the  people 
can  understand. 

The  Council  of  Trent,  professedly  acting  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  has  not  only  decreed  that 
mass  shall  be  celebrated,  and  many  other  acts  of  religious 
worship  performed,  in  Latin,  but  has  denounced  an  ana- 
thema upon  those  who  presume  to  maintain  a  different 
opinion. 

But  let  Paul  be  heard  on  this  subject,  that  we  may 
see  into  which  scale  the  weight  of  his  testimony  falls. 
"  He  that  speaketh  in  an  unknown  tongue,'  saith  the 
Apostle,  '  speaketh  not  unto  men,  but  unto  God  ;  for  no 
man  understandeth  him."  And  again,  "  If  I  come  unto 
you  speaking  with  tongues,  what  shall  I  profit  you,  ex- 
16* 


186  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

cept  1  shall  speak  to  you  either  by  revelation,  or  by  know- 
ledge, or  by  prophesyings,  or  by  doctrine  ?  For  if  I  pray 
in  an  unknown  tongue,  my  spirit  prayeth,  but  my  un- 
derstanding is  unfruitful.  Else  when  thou  shalt  blesa 
with  the  spirit,  how  shall  he  that  occupieth  the  room  of 
the  unlearned,  say  Amen  at  thy  giving  of  thanks,  see- 
ing he  understandeth  not  wiiat  thou  sayest?  In  the 
church  I  had  rather  speak  five  words  with  my  under- 
standing, that  by  my  voice  I  might  teach  others  also, 
than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  unknown  tongue." — 
This  is  the  substance  of  all  that  the  Scripture  hath  said 
on  this  subject ;  and  who  will  venture  to  say  that  there 
is  any  thing  in  it  that  even  seems  to  favour — nay  that 
does  not  directly  oppose,  the  doctrine  of  the  Romanists? 

5.  Romanism  virtually  denies  the  completeness  of 
Christ'^s  atonement,  hy  daily  reneioing  his  sacrifice 
in  the  celebration  of  the  viass :  Protestant  Christianity 
recognises  the  perfectioti  of  Chris fs  sacrifice. 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  some  who  call  themselves 
Protestant  Christians,  who  deny  that  the  death  of  Christ 
had  any  thing  of  the  nature  of  a  propitiatory  sacrifice ; 
and  attribute  to  it  scarcely  a  higher  kind  of  efficacy  in 
the  work  of  our  redemption  than  to  the  death  of  Stephen 
or  Paul.  But  the  great  mass  of  the  Reformed  churches 
have  distinctly  recognised  the  atoning  eflScacy  of  Christ's 
death  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the 
Christian  system ;  and  those  who  have  maintained  the 
opposite  doctrine  have  generally  been  considered  as  hold- 
ing an  errour  which  cuts  them  off"  from  Si\\  reasonable 
claim  to  the  Christian  character.  I  repeat  then,  if  the 
standards  of  the  different  branches  of  the  Reformed 
church  be  appealed  to,  we  unquestionably  amve  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  doctrine  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  perfection  of  that  sacrifice,  constitutes 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  187 

an  essential  article  of  Christianity  as  it  is  held  by  the 
great  mass  of  Protestants. 

The  doctrine  which  the  Romish  church  holds  on  this 
subject  is  thus  expressed  in  the  creed  of  Pius  IV. — 
"  I  believe  that  in  the  mass  is  offered  to  God  a  true,  pro- 
per, and  propitiatory  sacrifice,  for  the  quick,'  or  living 
^and  dead."  And  the  Council  of  Trent  has  decreed 
that,  "if  any  one  say  that  in  the  mass  there  is  not  a 
true  and  proper  sacrifice  offered  unto  God ;  or  that  to  be 
offered  is  nothing  else  but  for  Christ  to  be  given  to  us  to 
eat,  let  him  be  anathema." 

I  hardly  need  remind  you  that  a  large  part  of  the  Sa- 
cred Scriptures  relates  to  the  point  now  under  considera- 
tion ;  and  as  there  is  entire  harmony  in  all  that  they 
contain  on  the  subject,  it  may  suffice  to  quote  two  or 
three  passages.  "If  any  man  sin,'  saith  the  Apostle 
John,  'we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ  the  Righteous ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world."  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Hebrews,  says, 
"  Christ  being  come,  an  High  Priest  of  good  things  to 
come  ....  he  entered  in  once  into  the  holy  place, 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us."  Again, 
"  Once  in  the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  appeared  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself"  And  again,  "By 
one  offering  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are 
sanctified."  Need  I  ask  whether  these  scripture  quota- 
tions can  even  be  tortured  into  an  accordance  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  Romanists  7 

6.  Romanism  maintaifis  that  there  are  seveti  sacra- 
ments :  Protestant  Christianity,  that  there  are  hit  two. 

In  the  creed  of  Pius  lY.  it  is  thus  wi'itten :  "  There 
are  truly  and  properly  seven  sacraments  of  the  new  law, 
instituted  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  necessary 


188  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

to  the  salvation  of  mankind ;  (although  all  the  sacra- 
ments are  not  necessary  to  every  person,)  viz.  Baptism, 
Confirmation,  the  Lord's  Supper,  Penance,  Extreme 
Unction,  Orders  and  Matrimony :"  and  the  Council  of 
Trent  denounces  a  curse  against  any  who  say  that  these 
"  were  not  all  instituted  by  Christ,  or  that  there  are  more 
or  fewer  than  seven,  or  that  any  of  the  seven  is  not 
truly  and  properly  a  sacrament." 

Now  you  may  search  the  New  Testament  through,  and 
you  will  find  no  allusion  to  any  other  sacraments  than 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  When  our  Lord  com- 
missioned his  disciples  previous  to  his  ascension,  he  said 
"  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  And  when  he  had  met  them  for  the  last 
celebration  of  the  Passover  previous  to  his  death,  the 
history  informs  us  that  "  he  took  bread,  and  gave  thanks, 
and  brake  it,  and  gave  unto  them  saying,  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.  Likewise  also  the  cup  after  Supper,  saying,  this 
cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood,  which  is  shed 
for  you."  Both  these  sacraments.  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  Protestant  Christianity  acknowledges:  in 
respect  to  the  other  five  the  Bible  is  entirely  silent. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  in  respect  to  various  other 
doctrines,  that  Romanism  contradicts  the  Bible, — that 
Protestant  Christianity  fully  accords  with  it ;  but  I  am 
admonished  to  proceed  to  the  second  point  of  contrast 
between  the  two  systems,  viz : 

II.  Their  conformableness  to  Reason. 

And  here  let  me  say  that  I  assign  to  Reason  no  high- 
er office  as  the  judge  of  truth,  than  to  decide  whether 
God  has  really  spoken,  and  if  so,  to  ascertain  the  import 
of  what  he  has  said.    With  every  one  who  acknow- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  189 

ledges  the  authority  of  Revelation,  (and  he  who  denies 
it  is  not,  even  in  the  loosest  sense  of  the  word,  a  Chris- 
tian,) the  great  question,  '  What  is  truth  V — must  be  ul- 
timately settled  by  a  reference  to  the  Law  and  the  Tes- 
timony :  for  whatever  God  has  revealed  we  are  bound 
to  receive  with  implicit  confidence.  But  we  know  that 
God  would  reveal  nothing  that  is  contrary  to  Reason, 
though  he  may  reveal  many  things  which  Reason  can- 
not fully  comprehend ;  and  hence  all  those  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture  which  involve  a  manifest  absurdity,  we 
are  bound  to  reject  as  false,  inasmuch  as  they  are  incon- 
sistent with  the  divine  character.  Both  Protestants  and 
Romanists  profess  to  acknowledge  the  divine  authority 
of  the  Bible ;  and  both  claim  that  their  respective  sys- 
tems are  contained  in  it:  so  long  then  as  we  make  God's 
word  the  ultimate  standard,  we  may,  without  presump- 
tion, inquue  whether  the  interpretation  of  the  one  or  the 
other  is  most  in  accordance  with  enlightened  Reason. 
We  will  direct  your  attention  to  a  few  points  illustrative 
of  the  absurdity  of  the  dogmas  of  Romanism  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  the  reasonableness  of  the  doctrines  of 
Protestant  Christianity  on  the  other. 

1.  Romanism  is  absurd,  in  thai  she  claims  the  pre- 
rogative of  i7ifallibility ;  i?i  other  loords,  of  entire 
freedom  from,  all  doctrinal  errour :  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity is  consistent  in  the  rejection  of  this  claim. 

In  the  creed  of  Pius  lY.  every  Romanist  thus  de- 
clares : — "  I  receive  the  Holy  Scriptures  according  to  that 
sense  which  the  Holy  Mother  Church  (to  whom  it  be- 
longs to  judge  of  the  true  sense  and  intrepretation  of  the 
Holy  Scripture)  did  and  doth  hold.  Nor  will  I  ever  take 
and  interpret  it  otherwise  than  according  to  the  unani- 
mous consent  of  the  Fathers." 


190 


w 


PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 


Now  it  is  surely  absurd  for  the  Romish  church  to 
claim  infallibility,  if  she  cannot  herself  determine  where 
this  infallibility  resides.  Of  her  ability  to  do  this  we 
may  the  better  judge,  when  we  have  seen  what  she  ac- 
tually has  done. 

The  High  Romanists,  as  they  are  called,  contend  for 
the  personal  infallibility  of  the  Pope ;  and  maintain  that 
all  his  decisions  in  respect  to  matters  of  faith,  are  dicta- 
ted by  the  immediate  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 
this  claim  surely  cannot  be  admitted;  for  those  who 
have  occupied  the  papal  chair  at  different  periods,  have 
flatly  contradicted  each  other.  For  instance,  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  sixth  century,  Gregory  decreed  that  who- 
ever should  claim  the  universal  episcopate  would  be  the 
forerunner  of  Anti-Christ ;  but,  within  a  few  years,  this 
was  actually  claimed  by  Boniface  HI.  and  has  since 
been  claimed  by  many  of  his  successors.  Here  then  is 
the  dilemma ; — if  Gregory  was  infallible,  then  his  suc- 
cessors in  the  papal  chair  must  be  viewed  as  the  fore- 
runners of  Anti-Christ :  if  his  successors  were  not  the 
forerunners  of  Anti-Christ,  then  the  decision  of  Gregory 
was  not  according  to  truth.  In  either  case  I  need  not 
say  what  becomes  of  the  pretended  infallibility. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  evinces  the  ab- 
surdity of  supposing  that  the  Pope  is  infallible ; — it  is 
the  fact  that  not  a  small  number  of  those  who  have  oc- 
cupied the  papal  chair  have  been  men  whose  lives  were 
openly  at  war  with  the  plainest  precepts  of  the  gospel. 
There  is  scarcely  a  heresy  so  gross  but  that  some  of 
those  who  have  worn  the  triple  crown  have  sanctioned 
it;  hardly  a  crime  so  flagrant  but  that  some  of  them  have 
given  an  example  of  it.  Witness  the  case  of  Johii 
XII.  whom  Cardinal  Baronius  has  described  as  a  mon- 
ster of  iniquity,  and  who  was  convicted  of  perjury,  bias- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  191 

phemy  and  murder ;  of  John  XXIII.  who  was  utterly 
destitute  of  all  moral  and  religious  principles,  and  became 
the  assassin  of  his  predecessor ;  of  Alexander  VI.  who 
yielded  himself  to  an  unbridled  sensuality  and  cruelty, 
and  finally  died  from  having  taken  through  mistake  a 
poisonous  preparation  which  he  had  designed  for  certain 
cardinals  whom  he  had  invited  to  an  entertainment. — • 
These  are  a  specimen  of  not  a  small  part  of  the  charac- 
ters who  have  occupied  the  papal  chair :  and  now  I  ask 
you  whether  it  is  not  a  gross  absurdity  to  suppose  that 
such  men  should  possess  the  attribute  of  infallibility  ? — 
If  they  were  infallible,  it  was  because  the  God  of  all 
wisdom  and  purity  made  them  so ;  but  who  could  be- 
lieve that  such  men, — may  I  not  say — such  monsters, 
were  meet  temples  for  the  residence  of  the  Holy  Ghost? 
Is  it  in  accordance  either  with  Reason  or  Scripture  to 
suppose  that  Jehovah  would  have  any  communion  with 
them ;  especially  that,  by  a  supernatural  influence,  he 
would  qualify  them  to  become  the  infallible  interpreters 
of  his  word? 

But  the  more  modern  Romanists  have  generally 
claimed  that  this  infallibility  resides  not  with  the  Pope, 
but  with  each  general  council  considered  as  the  legiti- 
mate representative  and  organ  of  the  church.  But  here 
again,  the  same  difficulty  occurs  as  in  the  former  case: — 
the  decrees  of  different  councils  have  been  in  direct  op- 
position to  each  other.  The  Council  of  Constantinople 
convened  in  754  decreed  the  removal  of  images,  and 
the  entire  aboUtion  of  image  worship ;  but  the  second 
Council  of  Nice  a  few  years  after  revei-sed  this  decree, 
restored  the  images  to  the  places  from  which  they  had 
been  taken,  and  pronounced  an  anathema  on  the  coun- 
cil which  had  decreed  their  removal.  But  it  is  impossi- 
ble that  two  decrees  of  a  directly  opposite  character  can 


192  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

both  be  right :  of  course  we  must  look  yet  farther  for  the 
true  residence  of  infallibility. 

And  hence  we  find  that  there  is  another  class  of  the 
Romanists  who  maintain  that  it  resides  neither  with  the 
Pope  alone,  nor  with  a  general  council  alone,  but  with 
both  united.  They  contend  that  the  decision  of  no 
council  is  to  be  regarded  as  infallible,  till  it  has  received 
the  sanction  of  the  Holy  See ;  and  as,  in  the  case  just 
referred  to,  the  Council  of  Constantinople  did  not  receive 
that  sanction,  while  the  Council  of  Nice  did  receive  it, 
therefore  they  maintain  that  the  fact  that  the  former 
was  denounced  by  the  latter  makes  nothing  against  the 
claim  to  infallibility ;  inasmuch  as  the  former  was  a  spu- 
rious council.  But  you  will  perceive  at  once  that  this 
argument  can  have  no  force  until  it  has  first  been  proved 
that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  possesses,  by  divine  right,  the 
power  of  a  veto  on  the  doings  of  a  general  council,  and 
that  his  concurrence  is  necessary  to  give  validity  to  their 
decisions.  But  as  this  vital  point  has  never  yet  been 
estabhshed,  the  argument  which  is  professedly  built  up- 
on it  must  pass  for  nothing. 

But  the  absmdity  of  this  claim  appears  still  farther 
from  the  fact  that  what  the  church  has  decreed  to  be 
truth  in  one  age,  she  has  decreed  to  be  falsehood  in  ano- 
ther. In  l'^15  the  fourth  Council  of  Lateran  decided 
that  the  bread  and  wine  used  in  the  Lord's  Supper  are 
changed  into  the  real  body  and  blood,  together  with  the 
soul  and  divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  this  decision 
was  fully  and  formally  ratified  by  the  then  reigning 
Pontiff,  Innocent  III ;  and  therefore,  on  the  principle  just 
referred  to,  it  must  have  been  strictly  infallible :  of  course 
the  same  doctrine  must  have  been  taught  in  the  church 
from  the  very  beginning.  But  how  is  it  in  point  of  fact? 
Why  it  is  proved  by  a  uniform  and  indubitable  testimo- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  193 

ny,  that,  for  the  first  five  centuries,  the  church  explicitly 
and  even  controversially  denied  that  there  was  any  phy- 
sical change  in  the  elements  in  virtue  of  the  prayer  of 
consecration ;  and  that  this  doctrine  was  refuted  in  a  for- 
mal manner  by  many  of  the  most  celebrated  fathers  of 
the  church  as  a  gross  heresy.  Is  it  so  then  that  the 
church  has  taught  directly  opposite  doctrines  at  different 
periods,  and  still  is  infallible  ? 

Yet  another  consideration  which  points  to  the  same 
conclusion  is,  that  the  decisions  of  the  church  have  often 
been  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  declarations  of  God's 
word.  If  the  Bible  has  settled  any  thing,  it  is  the  obli- 
gatory nature  of  an  oath ;  but  yet  the  third  council  of 
Lateran  has  decreed  that  no  oath  is  binding  that  is  ad- 
verse to  the  interests  of  the  church.  The  Bible  has  also 
given  its  most  unequivocal  sanction  to  the  institution  of 
Marriage,  and  has  declared  that  "  Marriage  is  honoura- 
ble in  all ;"  but  the  second  council  of  Lateran  prohibits 
the  marriage  of  ecclesiastics,  and  that,  not  on  grounds  of 
expediency,  but  on  grounds  of  morality.  Is  it  not  in 
the  highest  degree  absurd  to  acknowledge  the  authority 
of  the  Bible,  and  yet  acknowledge  the  infallibihty  of  a 
church  whose  decisions  are  directly  at  war  with  the 
Bible? 

And  finally,  if  the  infallibility  which  the  Romish 
church  claims  were  any  thing  better  than  a  phantom, 
why  is  there  such  an  entire  silence  in  respect  to  it  during 
the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity  ?  For  several  centuries 
we  find  nothing  that  even  looks  toward  this  claim  :  but 
if  she  had  really  been  conscious  that  she  possessed  this 
wonderful  attribute,  (and  it  were  impossible  that  she 
should  have  possessed  it  without  being  conscious  of  it,) 
is  it  not  morally  certain  that  she  would  have  appealed 
to  it  in  some  of  the  almost  innumerable  controversies  by 

17 


194  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANTTY 

which  she  was  early  agitated  ?  Is  not  her  silence  in 
respect  to  this  claim  proof  that  she  had  then  never 
dreamed  of  it  ? 

I  ask  you  now,  is  not  this  doctrine  of  infallibility  so 
fundamental  in  tlie  system  of  the  Romanists — take  what- 
ever view  of  it  you  will— an  absurdity?  If  the  alleged 
infaUibiUty  exists,  it  must  surely  exist  somewhere ;  but 
can  we  beheve  that  it  really  does  exist,  when  even  the 
infallible  Church  herself  cannot  tell  where?  Is  not  Ro- 
manism absurd  in  urging  such  a  claim  ?  Is  not  Pro- 
testantism consistent  in  rejecting  it  ? 

2.  Romanism  is  chargeable  with  absurdity  m  en- 
joining the  worshijJ  of  saints :  Protestant  Christianity 
evinces  her  consistence/,  by  recognising  7io  other  object 
of  religious  loorship  than  the  one  only  living  and 
true  God. 

I  am  aware  that  it  has  been  maintained  by  some  that 
the  Romanists  worship  saints  in  no  other  sense  than  that 
of  invoking  their  intercession  with  God,  just  as  we  ask 
the  prayers  of  the  living  in  our  behalf ;  but  let  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  "  Collects  and  Hymns  to  the 
Saints,"  as  published  in  1520,  show  how  far  this  impres- 
sion is  correct.  "Holy  Mother  of  God,  who  hast  worthi- 
ly merited  to  conceive  Him  whom  the  whole  world  could 
not  comprehend  ;  by  thy  pious  intervention  wash  away 
our  sins,  that  so  being  redeemed  by  thee,  we  may  be  able  to 
ascend  to  the  seat  of  everlasting  glory,  where  thou  abidest 
with  thy  Son  forever Let  our  voice  first  cele- 
brate Mary  through  whom  the  rewards  of  life  are  given 

unto  us May  the  holy  assembly  of  the  angels, 

and  the  illustrious  troop  of  the  archangels,  now  blot  out 
our  sins  by  granting  to  us  the  high  glory  of  Heaven." 
....  O  George,  renowned  martyr  ....  in  our 
soul  and  inmost  heart  we  beseech  thee  that,  with  all  the 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  195 

faithful,  we  being  washed  from  our  sins,  may  be  joined 
to  the  citizens  of  Heaven ;  that  so,  together  with  thee 
we  may  joyfully  be  in  glory,  and  that  our  lips  with  glory 
may  render  praises  to  Christ O  martyr  Chris- 
topher, make  us  to  be  in  mind  worthy  of  the  love  of 

God O  William,  thou  good  shepherd,  father 

and  patron  of  the  clergy,  cleanse  us  in  our  agony;  grant 
us  aid ;  remove  the  filthiness  of  our  hfe ;  and  grant  the 

joys  of  a  celestial  crown O  ye  eleven  thousand 

glorious  maids,  roses  of  martyrdom,  defend  me  in  hfe  by 
affording  to  me  your  assistance ;  and  show  yourselves  to 
me  in  death  by  bringing  the  last  consolation." 

Such  are  the  authorized  prayers  of  the  Romish  church ; 
and  who  will  say  that  they  do  not  respect  blessings  which 
God  only  can  bestow  ?  If  they  are  designed  to  repre- 
sent the  saints  merely  as  intercessors,  then  I  have  only 
to  say  that  they  do  not  fairly  admit  of  any  such  con- 
struction;  and  it  must  have  been  known  when  they 
were  framed  that,  in  respect  to  the  great  mass  of  people 
at  least,  they  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to  lead 
them  into  errour.  And  the  whole  history  of  the  church 
in  reference  to  this  subject  shows  that  this  effect  has  been 
fully  reahzed. 

But  suppose  we  admit,  what  some  of  the  Romanists 
claim,  that  in  their  religious  worship  they  recognise  de- 
parted saints  only  as  intercessors ; — still,  I  maintain  that 
even  this  admission  leaves  them  chargeable  with  gross 
absurdity.  Am  I  asked  why  it  is  more  absurd  to  ask 
the  intercession  of  departed  saints  than  of  those  who  are 
alive  ?  I  answer,  in  the  first  place,  because  the  Scripture 
fully  authorizes  the  latter ;  but  it  no  where  even  seems 
to  furnish  a  warrant  for  the  former.  I  answer  again, 
that  neither  Reason  nor  Scripture  has  given  us  any  inti- 
mation that  the  dead  hear,  or  can  hear,  the  prayers 


196  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

which  are  offered  to  them ;  but  both  render  an  opposite 
testimony.  Says  the  wise  man,  speaking  of  the  dead, 
"  Their  love,  and  their  envy,  and  their  hatred,  is  perish- 
ed ;  neither  have  they  any  more  a  portion  forever  in  any 
thing  that  is  done  under  the  sun."  And  Reason  decides 
that,  inasmuch  as  they  are  finite  beings,  and  of  course 
cannot  be  every  where  present,  it  is  impossible  that  they 
should  hear  the  prayers  which  may  be  offered  to  them 
at  the  same  instant  from  opposite  parts  of  the  globe. — 
But  we  know  that  the  living  intercessor  hears  our  re- 
quests, because  he  is  present  with  us,  and  w^e  actually 
hear  the  petitions  which  he  offers  in  our  behalf.  He 
who  supplicates  the  intercessions  of  the  dead,  gropes  in 
deep  darkness :  he  who  asks  the  prayers  of  the  living, 
walks  in  the  broad  light  of  heaven. 

But  we  shall  not  have  an  adequate  view  of  the  ab- 
surdity of  this  species  of  worship,  until  we  have  contem- 
plated more  particularly  the  character  of  its  objects. — 
Who  then  are  the  saints  of  the  Romish  church  ?  If  you 
will  know  fully  who  they  are,  you  must  read  fifty-four 
ponderous  folio  volumes ;  and  even  then  you  have  by 
no  means  reached  the  end  of  the  catalogue.  Some  of 
these,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  were  illustrious  for  their 
virtues — men  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy.  But 
there  are  others  who  never  had  an  existence  but  in  the 
legends  of  the  church ;  the  story  of  whose  lives  is  an 
outrage  upon  Reason  and  common  sense.  Witness  the 
gigantick  Saint  Christopher,  who  is  represented  as  having 
carried  Christ  over  an  arm  of  the  sea;  and  the  illustrious 
Saint  Francis,  who,  according  to  their  own  accounts, 
stripped  himself  of  his  clothes,  and  ran  about,  preaching 
to  birds  and  beasts.  And  there  are  others  still  on  the 
list  of  the  canonized,  whose  names  are  only  worthy  to 
be  consigned  to  the  blackest  page  in  the  annals  of  crime. 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  197 

I  may  mention  as  an  example  the  notorious  Hilde- 
brandj — one  of  the  most  ambitious  and  unprincipled  ty- 
rants which  the  world  has  ever  seen; — Thomas  A. 
Becketj  whose  name  figures  so  conspicuously  on  the  re- 
cords of  rebelUon  and  treason ;  and  Pius  V.  whose  glory 
it  was  that  he  had  burnt  more  hereticks  than  almost 
any  of  his  predecessors.  Such  are  some  of  the  charac- 
ters which  the  Komish  church  has  included  in  the  cata- 
logue of  her  saints.  Admitting  that  it  were  reasonable 
to  invoke  the  aid  of  those  who  are  really  saints  in  Hea- 
ven, yet  would  it  not  be  preposterous  to  render  even  the 
lowest  rehgious  homage  to  such  as  either  never  had  an 
existence,  or  lived  only  to  curse  the  world  by  their  follies 
and  crimes? 

I  might  mention  too,  as  being,  if  possible,  still  more 
absurd,  the  devotion  that  is  paid  to  images  and  relicksj 
and  especially  to  the  cross.     I  am  well  aware  that  some 
of  the  more  intelligent  Romanists  tell  us  that  the  venera- 
tion which  is  rendered  to  these  inanimate  objects  is  not 
strictly  religious  worship ;  and  that  they  are  designed 
only  to  aid  a  devotional  spirit  by  bringing  into  exercise 
the  principle  of  association.     To  this  I  reply  that,  even 
upon  this  principle,  they  are  intended  to  exalt  the  mind 
only  to  the  objects  with  which  they  are  associated; — of 
course  the  devout  contemplation  of  the  relicks  of  the 
saints,  can  terminate  in  nothing  more  exalted  than  the 
worship  of  the  saints.     And  this  is  in  accordance  with 
that  canon  of  the  church  which  declares  that  "  the  ima- 
ges and  relicks  of  Christ  and  the  saints  are  to  be  duly 
honoured,  venerated,  or  worshipped;  and  that  in  this 
veneration  and  worship  those  are  venerated  which  are 
represented  by  them."     But  will  any  one  beheve  that 
the  homage  of  the  ignorant  multitude  who  bow  before 
these  relicks  with  expressions  of  adoration,  and  who  are 
17* 


198  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

constantly  taught  that  they  are  to  be  '  venerated  or  wor- 
shipped,' does  not  terminate  upon  the  objects  which  are 
before  them ;  that  it  has  not  in  it  all  the  elements  of  a 
gross  idolatry  ? 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  showing  the  absurdity  of  the 
worship  of  saints,  relicks,  and  images,  which  consti- 
tutes so  prominent  a  feature  of  Romanism,  I  surely  need 
not  detain  you  to  illustrate  the  reasonableness  of  Pro- 
testant Christianity  in  allowing  the  worship  of  but  the 
one  living  and  true  God.     I  therefore  proceed  to  remark. 

3.  That  Romanism  affronts  human  Reason  hy 
maintaining  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  or 
the  change  of  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist  into  ^Hhe 
real  body  and  bloody  the  soul  and  divinity,''^  of  Jesus 
Christ:  That  Protestant  Christianity,  is  consistent 
with  the  dictates  of  Reason^  in  regardiiig  the  ele- 
m^ents  as  merely  set  apart  from  a  com7non  to  a  sacred 
use. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Romanists  on  this  subject  is  thus 
expressed  in  the  creed  of  Pius  IV : — "  I  believe  that  in 
the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  there  is  real- 
ly and  substantially  the  body  and  blood,  together  with 
the  soul  and  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that 
there  is  a  conversion  of  the  whole  substance  of  the  wine 
into  his  blood ;  which  conversion  the  Catholic  church 
calls  Transubstantiation." 

You  all  know  that  this  doctrine  is  founded  on  the  li- 
teral interpretation  of  the  words  of  our  Saviour  in  the 
original  institution  of  the  ordinance — "  This  is  my  body 
broken  for  you,  &c."  But  surely  there  is  no  necessity 
for  understanding  this  language  hterally  ;  for  while  the 
Scripture  abounds  with  figurative  expressions,  it  is  the 
very  nature  of  a  sacrament  to  represent  some  invisible 
grace  or  benefit  by  an  outward  sign  or  figure.    And  be- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  199 

sidesj  even  the  Romanists  cannot  deny  that,  in  the  in- 
stitution of  this  very  ordinance,  several  figurative  expres- 
sions are  employed ;  as,  for  instance,  the  cup  is  put  for 
the  wine  contained  in  the  cup ;  and  his  blood  is  said 
then  to  be  shed,  and  his  body  to  be  broken,  though  this 
did  not  actually  occur  till  after  the  ordinance  was  insti- 
tuted. And  while  there  is  no  necessity  to  put  a  literal 
construction  on  this  language,  every  principle  of  just  in- 
terpretation forbids  it.  Jesus  Christ  is  called  in  Scrip- 
ture a  door,  a  vine,  a  rock ;  and  there  is  precisely  the 
same  evidence  that  he  is  substantially  changed  into  these 
and  many  other  things  to  which  he  is  compared,  as 
there  is  of  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation. 

But  the  absurdity  of  this  doctrine  appears  principally 
from  the  fact  that  it  contradicts  the  testimony  of  sense, 
and  thus  undermines  the  whole  fabrick  of  Christianity. 
What  was  the  evidence  on  which  our  Lord  and  his 
Apostles  chiefly  relied,  to  prove  the  divinity  of  their  mis- 
sion? Undoubtedly  it  was  that  furnished  by  miracles ; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  their  miraculous  powers,  there 
is  not  the  least  ground  for  believing  that  Christianity 
would  ever  have  gained  a  footing  in  the  world.  But 
through  what  medium  did  the  early  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity receive  this  supernatural  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  ?  Certainly  through  the  medium  of  sense ; 
and  if  it  can  be  proved  that  the  senses  are  not  to  be 
trusted,  then  the  evidence  of  miracles,  the  evidence  even 
of  that  cardinal  fact  in  Christianity, — the  Resurrection 
of  Jesus,  is  gone.  But  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantia- 
tion contradicts  the  testimony  of  the  senses  in  the  most 
palpable  manner ;  for  what  two  things  can  you  imagine 
more  unlike  each  other  than  a  small  piece  of  bread  and  the 
entire  body  of  a  man  ?  If  then  this  doctrine  was  taught 
by  the  Apostles,   they  surely  must  have  contradicted 


200  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

themselves ;  for  just  so  far  as  they  persuaded  those  whom 
they  addressed  of  its  truth,  they  persuaded  them  not  to 
trust  their  senses ;  and  yet  the  grand  argument  by  which 
they  enforced  all  their  doctrines  was  built  on  a  directly 
opposite  principle, — viz,  that  their  senses  must  be  trusted. 
We  come  unavoidably  to  the  conclusion  that,  if  the  tes- 
timony of  the  senses  is  to  be  relied  on,  the  doctrine  of 
Transubstantiation  is  false ;  and  if  it  is  not  to  be  relied 
on,  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  gospel  is  true. 

But  it  may  be  asked  whether  God  cannot  impose  upon 
the  senses,  and  make  things  which  are  not  appear  a^ 
things  which  are.  I  answer,  it  is  not  for  me  to  Hmit 
Omnipotence.  You  may  farther  ask  whether,  if  he  has 
revealed  to  us  the  fact  that  he  does  this,  we  are  not  bound 
to  believe  him  ?  Yes,  undoubtedly,  if  we  are  assured 
that  he  has  made  such  a  revelation ;  but  how  can  we 
ever  be  assured  of  this  if  the  testimony  of  the  senses 
cannot  be  relied  on  ?  Nay,  admitting  the  Scriptures  to 
be  a  divine  revelation,  and  the  words — "This  is  my 
body,"  to  be  taken  literall}^,  what  more  evidence  have 
we  that  these  words  are  in  the  Bible,  than  every  man 
has  that  the  bread  in  the  sacrament  remains  unchanged? 
I  repeat  then,  if  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  be 
admitted,  I  know  not  where  to  plant  my  foot  for  the  de- 
fence of  that  religion  of  which  it  is  professedly  a  part; 
nay,  I  see  not  but  that  I  must  resign  myself  at  once  to 
universal  skepticism. 

Protestant  Christianity  views  in  the  sacramental  ele- 
ments the  emblems  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord; 
and  these  emblems  are  of  a  most  significant  and  impres- 
sive character.  In  the  prayers  which  are  offered  in  con- 
nexion with  the  service  she  recognises  indeed  a  conse- 
crating act ;  but  it  is  an  act  which  leaves  the  elements 
possessed  of  the  same  properties  which  naturally  belong 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  201 

to  them.  What  appears  to  be  bread  she  regards  as  ac- 
tually bread,  and  what  appears  to  be  wine,  as  actually 
wine ;  while  in  each  of  them  she  beholds  an  affecting 
memorial  of  the  Redeemer's  death.  Here  is  no  contra- 
diction of  sense,  or  Reason,  or  Scripture ;  every  thing  is 
as  it  seems  to  be ;  and  the  Christian,  in  celebrating  the 
ordinance,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  reflect,  if  he  reflects 
at  all,  that  there  is  gross  absurdity  involved  in  what  he 
is  doing,  is  conscious  of  being  engaged  in  a  strictly  rea- 
sonable service. 

Without  extending  my  remarks  farther  on  this  article, 
upon  which  it  would  be  easy  to  enlarge  to  almost  any 
extent,  I  pass  to  another  point  in  the  contrast  between 
the  two  systems ;  viz, 

III.  Their  claim  to  antiquity. 

And  here  the  Romish  church  profess  to  occupy  strong 
ground  :  they  triumphantly  ask,  '  Where  was  our  reli- 
gion before  the  time  of  Luther  ? — and  at  the  same  time 
appeal  to  a  remote  antiquity  in  justification  of  their  own 
system.  My  first  remark  in  regard  to  this  claim  is,  that 
the  antiquity  of  any  religious  system  is  not  to  be  taken 
as  evidence  of  its  truth  ; — otherwise  both  Judaism  and 
Paganism  must  have  stronger  claims  upon  our  belief 
than  Christianity ;  for  when  she  appeared  in  the  world, 
they  had  both  existed  for  ages.  I  observe  again,  that 
the  systems  held  by  Romanists  and  by  Protestants  are 
in  many  respects  alike  ;  and  in  regard  to  all  these  par- 
ticulars, both  may  fairly  claim  an  equal  antiquity.  All 
that  is  embraced  in  the  Apostle's  creed,  which  received 
the  sanction  of  the  first  four  general  councils,  Protestants 
cordially  consent  to :  the  points  on  which  they  differ  are 
chiefly  those  which  are  contained  in  the  creed  of  Pius 
IV.  which  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  grand  for- 
mularies of  the  Romish  church.     And  in  respect  to  these 


202 


PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 


I  may  boldly  assert,  and  appeal  to  ecclesiastical  history 
to  justify  the  assertion,  that  they  are  all  innovations. — 
If  Protestant  Christianity  is  to  be  considered  as  taking 
its  origin  in  the  Reformation,  then  no  doubt  Romanism 
has  the  precedence  in  point  of  age  ;  for  the  very  idea  of 
a  reformation  takes  for  granted  the  previous  existence 
of  errours  and  corruptions ;  but  if,  by  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity, we  mean  the  doctrines  which  Protestants  hold 
in  contradistinction  from  the  Romanists,  (and  this  surely 
is  its  only  legitimate  meaning,)  then  I  maintain  that  the 
Protestant  faith  may  fairly  claim  the  greater  antiquity. 
Let  us  see  if  it  is  not  so. 

Take  for  instance  the  doctrine  that  saints,  and  ima- 
ges, and  relicks,  are  the  proper  objects  of  worship — 
if  the  testimony  of  the  most  unexceptionable  ecclesiasti- 
cal historians  is  to  be  relied  on,  this  is  a  corruption  of 
genuine  Christianity  which  was  unknown  for  several  of 
the  first  ages. 

The  invocation  of  departed  saints  was  first  intro- 
duced towards  the  close  of  the  fifth  century ;  but  it  was 
not  till  the  sixth  century  that  temples  were  erected  in 
honour  of  them  ;  and  not  till  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth 
century  that  the  Roman  Pontiffs  arrogantly  and  impi- 
ously assumed  the  prerogative  of  constituting  them  ob- 
jects of  religious  veneration,  and  maintained  that  their 
prayers  and  merits  were  efficacious  to  procure  blessings 
for  the  living. 

Concerning  the  worship  of  irnages,  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory is  entirely  silent  for  the  first  three  centuries.  Their 
first  introduction  into  Christian  churches  seems  to  have 
been  in  Spain,  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  centu- 
ry ;  and  though  they  were  designed  merely  as  ornaments, 
yet  the  use  of  them,  even  in  that  way,  was  almost  im- 
mediately condemned  by  a  council  as  a  dangerous  inno- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  203 

vation.  But  potwithstanding  this  practice  was  thus 
frowned  upon  in  its  very  beginning,  within  about  a  cen- 
tury from  that  time  it  had  become  common,  and  within 
less  than  two  centuries,  almost  universal.  Shortly 
after  its  introduction,  the  images  came  to  be  regarded, 
not  as  mere  ornaments,  but  as  helps  to  devotion ;  and 
in  the  natural  progress  of  errour  and  superstition, 
they  rose,  in  the  eighth  century,  to  the  dignity  of  be- 
coming real  objects  of  worship.  I  know  many  of  the 
Romish  divines  have  maintained  that  the  worship  of 
images  is  as  ancient  as  Christianity  herself;  and  in  proof 
of  this  have  alleged  a  decree  said  to  have  been  made  by 
the  Apostles  in  a  council  at  Antioch,  commanding  the 
Christians  to  guard  against  errour  in  respect  to  the  ob- 
ject of  their  w^orship,  by  making  and  worshipping  images 
of  the  Saviour;  but  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  there  is  no  notice  taken  of  any  such  de- 
cree or  council,  until  seven  hundred  years  after  the  Apos- 
tolick  times,  when  the  controversy  in  respect  to  the  wor- 
ship of  images  had  commenced,  and  there  was  occasion 
for  looking  after  the  best  authority  that  could  be  found 
to  justify  the  usage. 

In  respect  to  the  worship  of  relicks,  *  the  Romanists 
claim  that  the  practice  is  to  be  distinctly  traced  to  the 
apostolick  age ;  and  they  attempt  to  justify  this  claim 
by  referring  to  the  case  of  the  martyr  Stephen ;  of  whom 
it  is  said  that  "devout  men  carried  him  to  his  burial  and 
made  great  lamentation  over  him ;"  as  if  this  declaration 
proved  that  the  early  believers  revered  the  relicks  of  Ste- 
phen, and  that  too  under  thesanction  of  the  Apostles  them- 
selves. I  need  not  say  how  little  even  of  plausibility  there 
is  in  such  a  deduction.  The  truth  is  that  there  is  no 
historical  evidence  that  the  worship  of  relicks,  in  any 
proper  sense  of  that  phrase,  existed  for  two  or  three  of 


204  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

the  first  centuries.  What  finally  became  the  doctrine  of 
the  Romish  church  on  this  subject  grew  up  fi'om  a  very 
small  beginning ;  and  though  it  is  not  easy  to  trace  it  in 
all  the  different  stages  of  its  progress,  we  are  completely 
sustained  by  ecclesiastical  history  in  denying  to  it  the 
antiquity  which  it  w^ould  claim. 

Again :  The  Romish  church  maintains  that  there  are 
seven  sacraments  ;  and  yet,  if  any  thing  is  to  be  known 
on  this  subject  from  history,  down  to  a  comparatively  re- 
cent period,  there  were  reckoned  only  two.  The  only 
sacraments  of  which  we  hear  any  thing  for  more  than 
eleven  hundred  years  after  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity are  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  but,  about 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  the  doctrine  began  to 
be  taught  by  certain  individuals  that  there  were  seven 
sacraments ;  though  it  was  not  till  near  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  that  it  was  formally  adopted  by  the 
Pope  and  a  general  council,  as  one  of  the  doctrines  of 
the  Romish  church.  Of  course  not  one  of  the  five  sa- 
craments which  were  added  to  the  original  number  was 
instituted  by  Christ,  or  even  dreamed  of  until  many  ages 
after  his  ascension. 

The  same  general  remark  applies  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  change  of  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist  into  the 
real  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus : — though  it 
grew  up  gradually  in  the  church,  there  is  the  united  tes- 
timony of  antiquity  to  mark  it  as  a  corruption  of  the  pri- 
mitive faith.  The  most  celebrated  fathers  during  the 
first  six  centuries,  such  as  Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Ire- 
neus,  Cyprian,  Origen  and  Austin,  have  expressed  sub- 
stantially the  same  views  of  this  subject  as  are  held  by 
nearly  every  Protestant  communion.  The  doctrine  of 
the  corporeal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist  was 
first  started  in  the  controversy  respecting  the  worship  of 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  205 

images,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighth  century.  It  was, 
however,  immediately  opposed  by  the  Synod  of  Constan- 
tinople, but  shortly  after  received  the  sanction  of  the 
second  council  of  Nice.  It  was  first  regularly  drawn 
out  and  digested  by  Paschase,  abbot  of  Corby,  in  the 
ninth  century ;  and  was  finally  established  in  its  present 
form  in  the  year  1215  by  Pope  Innocent  III.  in  the 
fourth  council  of  Lateran.  It  deserves  to  be  remarked 
that  when  the  doctrine  was  first  urged  by  Paschase,  it 
was  immediately  opposed  as  an  errour  of  recent  origin 
and  of  only  partial  adoption.  And  the  term  Transuh- 
stantiation,  by  which  the  doctrine  is  designated,  is  even 
more  modern  than  the  doctrine  itself;  it  having  been  in- 
vented by  Stephen,  Bishop  of  Autun,  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  These  are  the  simple  facts  which  ecclesiasti- 
cal history  furnishes  in  relation  to  this  doctrine :  judge 
ye  how  far  they  sustain  its  claim  to  antiquity. 

By  one  of  the  dogmas  of  the  Romish  church,  the 
clergy  are  doomed  to  ferpetual  celibacy ;  but  need  I 
say  that  this  has  not  been  so  from  the  beginning?  Un- 
til the  fourth  century  it  does  not  appear  that  the  doctrine 
which  the  Scriptures  teach,  and  which  Protestants  hold, 
that  "Marriage  is  honourable  in  all,"  had  ever  been 
called  in  question ;  but  in  the  course  of  that  century 
marriage  was  forbidden  to  the  clergy  by  Pope  Siricius ; 
though  the  prohibition  seems,  for  a  considerable  time,  to 
have  been  but  Uttle  regarded.  Celibacy  was  effectually 
imposed  on  the  clergy  of  the  Eastern  church  about  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century  ;  but  it  was  never  fully  esta- 
blished in  the  Western  or  Romish  church  until  about  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century;  and  even  then  it  was  com- 
plained of  by  many  writers  as  an  intolerable  burden. — 
Pope  Gregory  VII.  was  instrumental  of  its  final  esta- 
blishment ;  and  his  object  seems  to  have  been  to  with- 

18 


206  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

draw  the  clergy  as  much  as  possible  from  all  other  inte- 
rests, and  subject  them  more  entirely  to  his  authority. 

If  the  time  would  permit,  I  might  extend  this  illustra- 
tion to  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  and  indulgences,  to  the 
practice  of  praying  for  the  dead,  of  auricular  confession, 
of  withholding  the  cup  from  the  laity  in  the  ordinance 
of  the  Supper,  and  I  venture  to  add,  of  every  other  doc- 
trine and  practice  that  is  peculiar  to  the  Romish  church, 
and  show  you,  by  an  appeal  to  authentick  history,  that 
not  one  of  them  is  as  old  as  Christianity  herself.  In 
some  cases  indeed,  they  have  come  in  so  gradually  and 
silently  that  it  is  not  easy  to  trace  their  history  ;  but  in 
every  case  it  is  easy  to  point  to  a  time,  and  that  too  sub- 
sequent to  the  apostolick  age,  when  we  find  no  record  of 
their  existence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  religious  doc- 
trines and  usages  which  generally  prevail  in  the  Protes- 
tant church  are  substantially  the  same  with  those  which 
are  proved  by  the  most  abundant  testimony  to  have  ex- 
isted in  the  early  periods  of  Christianity.  I  repeat  then, 
the  claim  which  Romanism  makes  to  antiquity  cannot 
be  sustained  on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  mere  as- 
sertion :  the  Protestant  faith  in  all  its  leading  features 
was  the  faith  of  the  primitive  church,  and  every  depar- 
ture from  it  was  originally  marked  and  opposed  as  an 
errour. 

Let  us  contemplate  the  contrast  between  these  systems 
in  respect  to 

IV.  Their  adaptation  to  human  nature. 

—  Their  adaptation  to  develope  the  intellectual  fa- 
culties^ and  to  form  the  religious  character. 

—  To  develope  the  intellectual  faculties. 

1.  Romanism  discourages  or  prohibits  the  freeuse 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures :  Protestant  Christianity  would 
give  them  to  the  whole  human  family. 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  207 

The  Bible  is  the  grand  depository  of  religious  truth. 
It  contains  every  doctrine  and  precept  that  God  has  been 
pleased  to  reveal  to  the  world ;  and  whatever  is  not  found 
here  is  either  not  true,  or  not  important.  Leaving  out 
of  view  the  bearing  which  the  truths  of  Revelation  have 
upon  our  condition  and  destiny  as  sinful  and  immortal 
beings,  they  are  wonderfully  adapted  to  invigorate  and 
exalt  the  intellectual  powers.  The  mind,  in  contempla- 
ting them,  is  brought  directly  to  the  source  of  all  wisdom; 
is  lifted  above  the  grovelling  objects  of  sense  to  a  con- 
templation of  the  perfections  and  government  of  Jeho- 
vah; of  the  sublime  economy  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  universe.  Here  are  recorded  events  of  the  most 
wonderful  character, — events  which  bring  out  the  secrets 
of  the  human  heart,  and  show  man  to  himself  as  by  an 
undeceiving  mirror  ;  and  the  advantage  which  this  re- 
cord has  over  every  other  is,  that  it  is  the  infallible  testi- 
mony of  a  God  of  truth.  And  beside  the  history  which 
this  book  contains,  here  are  specimens  of  reasoning,  of 
poetry,  of  eloquence,  which  unite  the  power  of  a  com- 
prehensive and  brilliant  genius  with  the  majesty  of  God's 
own  inspiration.  It  results  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
human  mind  that  the  study  of  such  a  book  must  en- 
large and  quicken  its  faculties  ;  must  create  a  thirst  for 
general  knowledge,  and  awaken  a  spirit  of  inquiry  in 
respect  to  the  works  and  ways  of  God.  Hence  we  have 
a  right  to  expect  that,  just  in  proportion  as  the  free  use 
of  the  Bible  is  encouraged,  the  mind  will  be  delivered 
from  a  habit  of  indolence  and  apathy,  and  wax  bold  and 
vigorous  in  its  operations. 

Now  keep  in  view  this  influence  which  the  Bible  ex- 
erts upon  the  mind  of  man,  and  say  whether  Romanism 
or  Protestantism  is  the  more  favourable  to  intellectual 
culture.     The  Romish  church,  as  we  have  already  seen, 


208  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

has,  by  a  positive  edict,  prohibited  the  reading-  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  on  the  ground  that,  if 
this  hberty  "  be  indiscriminately  allowed  to  every  one, 
the  temerity  of  men  will  cause  more  evil  than  good  to 
arise  from  it."  And  hence  to  circulate  the  Scriptures 
among  the  common  people  is  almost  universally  regard- 
ed at  this  day  in  Catholic  countries  as  a  crime.  Some 
of  you  will  remember  a  fact  to  which  I  am  about  to  al- 
lude, which  occurred  not  long  since  in  Switzerland: 
many  copies  of  the  Bible  had  been  distributed  in  a  cer- 
tain district  through  the  benevolence  of  some  Protestant 
missionary,  and  had  been  received  with  much  gratitude 
and  gladness ;  but  the  moment  the  priest  discovered  it,  he 
required  each  copy  at  the  hands  of  the  individual  who 
had  received  it,  and  gathered  them  all  into  a  common 
bonfire.  I  am  aware  that  this  state  of  things  does  not 
exist  in  our  own  country,  and  that  publick  opinion  here 
will  not  tolerate  it ;  but  judging  from  the  canons  of  the 
church  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  what  actually  takes 
place  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  on  the  other,  I  ask 
you  whether  it  seems  likely  that  the  tolerance  which  is 
here  manifested  in  respect  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible  is 
more  a  matter  of  choice  or  of  necessity  ?  I  say  the  to- 
lerance which  is  here  manifested — for  at  best  it  is  no- 
thing more :  you  see  nothing  in  the  movements  of  the 
Romish  clergy  to  indicate  a  wish  that  the  Scriptures 
may  be  freely  circulated  among  their  charges;  and,  so 
far  as  I  know,  their  circulation  in  any  degree  is  little 
else  than  a  matter  of  self-defence.  And  as  to  the  edition 
of  the  Bible  which  they  circulate, — though  no  one  can 
deny  that  it  contains  all  the  great  truths  of  Christianity, 
yet  the  original  is  grossly  perverted  to  sanction  some  of 
the  doctrines  of  Romanism  ;  as,  for  instance,  instead  of 
"  Repent  and  be  converted,"  the  Douay  version  reads, 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  209 

"  Do  penance  and  be  converted."  But  the  truth  is,  the 
great  mass  of  the  Romanists  are  kept  in  absolute  igno- 
rance of  the  Bible ;  and  without  intending  the  least  dis- 
respect towards  them  either  as  individuals  or  as  a  body, 
I  venture  to  appeal  to  your  own  observation,  so  far  as  it 
has  extended,  for  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  It  is  one 
of  the  glories  of  Protestant  Christianity  on  the  other 
hand,  not  only  that  she  allows  the  Bible  to  all,  not  only 
that  she  fully  recognises  the  principle  that  it  is  designed 
for  all,  but  that  she  labours  to  put  it  into  the  hands  of 
all.  Hence  the  almost  countless  number  of  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  which  have  been  printed  in  various  languages 
since  the  Reformation.  Hence  the  numerous  societies 
which  have  sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  Protestant 
Christendom,  for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  not 
only  in  Christian  but  in  Pagan  lands.  Hence  the  uni- 
versal impression  that  the  Bible  must  be  sent  over  the 
whole  earth,  before  we  can  reasonably  look  for  the  world's 
renovation.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  Bible  is  a  foun- 
tain of  knowledge :  I  ask  then  whether  Protestantism 
is  not  the  friend,  whether  Romanism  is  not  the  foe,  of 
intellectual  improvement  ? 

2.  Romanism  does  its  utmost  to  repress  the  spirit  of 
free  inquiry :  Protestant  Christianity,  to  awaken  and 
cherish  it. 

If  the  Romish  church  be,  as  she  claims  to  be,  infaUi- 
ble  in  all  her  decisions  in  respect  to  the  true  meaning  of 
Scripture,  there  is  an  obvious  reason  why  she  should 
frown  upon  every  thing  like  free  inquiry  concerning  the 
principles  of  religious  faith.  The  great  question  '  What 
is  truth  ?' — come  from  whomsoever  it  may,  she  is  always 
ready  authoritatively  to  settle  by  a  reference  to  her  own 
canons  ;  and  if  the  infallibility  of  her  canons  be  taken 
for  granted,  there  certainly  can  be  no  occasion  ever  to 

18* 


210  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

appeal  from  them.  And  in  attributing  this  oracular  cha- 
racter to  her  own  interpretations  of  the  Bible,  she  won- 
derfully accommodates  the  apathy  and  indolence  of  the 
multitude,  who  are  more  than  willing  to  be  excused 
from  the  labour  of  intelligently  forming  their  own  opi- 
nions. To  investigate  the  various  parts  of  divine  truth, 
and  diligently  to  compare  one  part  with  another,  requires 
both  time  and  effort :  if  then  there  are  formulas  in  which 
I  can  be  certain  that  the  various  doctrines  and  duties  of 
Scripture  are  drawn  out  with  perfect  accuracy,  and  in 
which  I  have  the  very  mind  of  the  Spirit,  is  there  not 
some  apology  at  least  for  my  resting  in  these  results,  and 
avoiding  the  labour  of  personal  inquiry  1  In  strict  ac- 
cordance with  this  view,  the  Romish  church,  even  where, 
by  special  indulgence,  she  grants  the  use  of  the  Bible, 
still  chains  the  mind  down  to  her  own  interpretation  of 
it :  whatever  it  may  be  found  to  contain  must  be  brought, 
even  though  it  be  by  torture,  into  accordance  with  her 
authorized  canons. 

And  perhaps  it  may  not  be  a  violation  of  charity  to 
hazard  a  conjecture  as  to  the  reason  why  the  Romish 
church  is  so  averse  to  allowing  the  privilege  of  free  in- 
quiry. If  I  w^ere  to  express  an  opinion,  I  should  certain- 
ly say  that  it  was  to  be  attributed  to  a  secret  conscious- 
ness on  the  part  of  those  who  are  most  interested  in  the 
continuance  of  the  system — I  mean  especially  the 
higher  order  of  ecclesiastics — that  it  would  not  bear  the 
light ;  and  that  it  could  not  be  subjected  to  the  test  of 
an  honest  and  rigid  examination,  but  that  it  w^ould  in- 
stantly fall  under  its  own  weight.  Is  not  this  a  suffi- 
cient explanation  of  the  fact  that  she  makes  it  a  sin  to 
doubt  the  correctness  of  any  of  her  dogmas,  as  truly  as 
we  regard  it  a  sin  to  call  in  question  the  infallible  deci- 
sions of  the  Holy  Ghost  1 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  211 

Protestant  Christianity,  on  the  contrary,  recognises  the 
right  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion ;  and 
while  she  allows  it  as  a  privilege,  she  enjoins  it  as  a  du- 
ty, that  each  one  should  search  the  Scriptures  and  ulti- 
mately form  his  own  religious  opinions,  for  himself.  As 
she  places  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  all  classes  indiscri- 
minately, she  appeals  to  every  man's  common  sense,  and 
intelligence  and  conscience,  to  decide,  in  view  of  a  co- 
ming retribution,  what  it  contains;  and  leaves  him  to 
form  his  conclusions  on  this  subject  as  unembarrassed 
as  on  any  other. 

I  ask  again,  is  not  Romanism  adapted  to  keep  the 
mind  in  a  state  of  bondage  and  darkness  ?  It  were  a 
small  privilege  even  to  possess  the  Bible  and  be  allowed 
to  read  it,  apart  from  the  right  of  judging  of  the  mean- 
ing of  its  contents :  for  if  I  am  bound  to  believe  that 
particular  doctrines  are  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  I 
may  as  well  receive  those  doctrines  without  examining 
the  Scriptures  at  all ;  lest  the  result  of  an  examination 
should  be  to  perplex  me  with  doubts  in  respect  to  arti- 
cles of  faith,  from  which,  after  all,  I  have  not  the  liberty 
to  dissent.  Suppose  the  Romanist  to  sit  down  to  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  he  is  in  no  condition  for  the  unem- 
barrassed exercise  of  his  faculties.  His  business  is  not 
to  inquire  for  himself  the  meaning  of  what  he  reads, 
but  simply  to  inquire  what  construction  the  church  hath 
put  upon  it;  and  then  implicitly  to  yield  his  faith  to  her 
decision.  Admit,  if  you  will,  that,  in  coming  in  contact 
with  the  Bible,  he  is  brought  into  a  field  of  light ;  yet 
what  availeth  this  to  his  own  intellectual  illumination, 
if  he  may  not  have  the  privilege  to  open  the  eye  of  his 
understanding  upon  it  ?  Where  another  mind,  acting 
under  different  influences,  would  put  forth  vigorous  ef- 
forts, and  rise  to  lofty  heights,  his  mind  is  entirely  pas- 


212  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

sive,  or  is  occupied  only  in  endeavouring  to  torture  the 
declarations  of  Scripture  into  a  harmony  with  the  canons 
of  the  church.  I  do  not  deny  that  he  may  be  inquisi- 
tive in  respect  to  other  subjects ;  but  in  regard  to  what- 
ever belongs  to  the  most  momentous  of  all  subjects — that 
which  more  than  any  other  is  adapted  to  quicken  and 
exalt  the  mind  of  man,  he  tamely  surrenders  the  legiti- 
mate use  of  his  faculties  ;  and  I  submit  it  to  you  whe- 
ther a  restraint  thus  imposed  in  respect  to  one  grand  de- 
partment of  human  thought,  is  not  likely  to  cripple  in  a 
great  degree  the  intellectual  energies,  and  lead  to  a  gene- 
ral habit  of  mental  inaction  ?  But  the  religion  of  Pro- 
testants, as  it  allows  no  such  restraint,  but  encourages 
every  man  to  bring  the  full  vigor  of  his  powers  to  the 
investigation  of  religious  truth,  opens  an  iUimitable  field 
for  intellectual  improvement.  It  does  not  indeed  permit 
him  to  invent  new  doctrines,  or  to  connect  with  those 
which  are  actually  revealed  his  own  speculations,  how- 
ever ingenious,  or  plausible,  or  even  sublime ;  but  it  al- 
lows him  to  judge  for  himself  what  the  Scripture  con- 
tains, and  10  expatiate  in  the  broad  field  of  revealed  truth 
without  being  trammelled  by  any  self-constituted  infallible 
interpreter.  And  though  I  do  not  undertake  to  say  that 
the  man  who  exercises  his  faculties  diligently  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  divine  truth  is  of  course  a  proficient  in 
other  departments  of  knowledge ;  yet  I  do  say  that  it  is 
the  tendency  of  a  diligent  study  of  God's  word,  not  only 
directly  to  invigorate  the  mind,  but  to  produce  or  increase 
a  reUsh  for  intellectual  exercise  in  relation  to  other  sub- 
jects. It  will  not  be  easy  to  find  an  intellect  that  has 
familiarized  itself  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  free 
and  proper  exercise  of  its  faculties,  which  has  not  also 
been  quickened  and  enlarged  by  being  brought  in  con- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  213 

tact  with  other  forms  of  truth,  and  being  employed  in 
other  modes  of  investigation. 

3.  Romanism  occupies  the  mmd,  to  a  great  extent, 
with  cmitradictions  and  absurdities:  Protestant  Chris 
i^SLnity  presents  Jor  its  contemplation  a  consistent  and 
reasonable  system. 

Romanism  proposes  doctrines  which  are  not  only 
above  Reason  but  contrary  to  Reason.  For  instance, 
she  requires  her  votaries  to  believe  that  the  same  body 
can  be  in  different  places  at  the  same  time ;  that  bread 
and  wine,  in  the  repetition  of  a  form  of  words,  lose  their 
own  natural  properties  and  become  an  entirely  different 
substance ;  and  that  the  senses  give  a  false  testimony  in 
reference  to  one  of  the  plainest  matters  of  fact.  She 
requires  them  also  to  believe  that  there  is  a  mysterious 
power  of  working  miracles  lodged  in  the  relicks  of  dead 
men  ; — the  power  of  heahng  diseases,  of  averting  cala- 
mities, and  of  defending  against  the  assaults  and  devices 
of  the  devil.  Indeed  you  may  go  through  the  whole  list 
of  her  peculiar  dogmas,  and  I  challenge  you  to  find  one 
which  does  not  bear  the  marks  of  gross  errour  or  palpa- 
ble absurdity ;  which  is  not  manifestly  at  war  with  Rea- 
son, or  Scripture,  or  both.  And  is  ii  possible  that  the 
human  intellect  should  thrive  in  such  an  atmosphere? 
Is  there  any  thing  which  will  be  more  likely  to  impart 
to  it  an  imbecile  and  dwarfish  character,  than  this  con- 
stant contact  with  errour  and  absurdity? 

Protestant  Christianity  asks  you  to  believe  nothing 
for  which  she  does  not  furnish  the  clearest  evidence. — 
Some  of  the  truths  which  she  inculcates  are  indeed  above 
Reason ;  but  they  never  have  been,  and  never  can  be, 
shown  to  be  contrary  to  it ;  and  such  truths  it  is  surely 
reasonable  to  believe  upon  the  testimony  of  God.  The 
general  system  of  doctrine  which  she  inculcates  is  of  the 


214  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

purest  and  noblest  kind ;  it  is  the  appropriate  aliment  of 
the  mind  ;  and  it  cannot  be  received  and  digested  with- 
out imparting  new  vigor  to  all  the  faculties.  I  know 
that  the  mind  may  be  actively  employed  upon  errour  as 
well  as  upon  truth ;  in  attempting  to  defend  the  most 
palpable  absurdities,  as  well  as  in  studying  and  vindica- 
ting the  most  reasonable  and  scriptural  system.  But  in 
the  one  case  it  will  become  disproportioned,  if  not  abso- 
lutely monstrous ;  it  will  come  to  find  its  favourite  ele- 
ment in  the  region  of  conjecture,  and  fallacy,  and  con- 
tradiction :  in  the  other  case  it  will  develope  itself  in  fair 
and  goodly  proportions,  and  will  acquire  not  only  a  habit 
of  activity,  but  an  honest  and  safe  direction. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  contrast  between  these  systems 
in  respect  to  their  adaptation  to  develope  the  intellectual 
faculties  :  Let  us  contemplate  them  now  in  regard  to  the 
influence  which  they  are  respectively  fitted  to  exert  in 
forming  the  i^eligioiis  character. 

1.  It  is  the  tendency  of  Romanism  to  jnodnce  a 
blind  faith  ;  of  Protestant  Christianity  to  i^oduce  an 
intelligent  faith. 

Romanism,  as  we  have  already  seen,  requires  her  vo- 
taries to  believe  on  the  authority  of  the  church.  If  an 
intelligent  Romanist  finds  himself  grappling  with  an  ab- 
surdity, and  happens  to  institute  an  inquiry  in  respect  to 
the  grounds  on  which  he  must  receive  it  and  be  recon- 
ciled to  it,  the  only  answer  is  that  it  has  been  decreed 
by  the  infallible  church,  and  therefore  it  must  be  true. 
And  so,  whatever  of  truth  the  system  embraces,  is  re- 
ceived, not  upon  the  authority  of  a  God  of  truth,  but 
upon  the  authority  of  the  church. — the  authority  of 
Popes,  or  councils,  or  of  both  united.  Is  this  an  intelli- 
gent or  blind  faith  ?  Is  it  a  faith  in  divine  or  human 
testimony? 


cont;basted  with  romanism.  215 

Protestant  Christianity  asks  you  to  receive  nothing 
but  upon  the  testimony  of  God.  She  does  not  indeed 
proscribe  the  use  of  creeds  and  confessions;  but  she  asks 
nobody  to  acknowledge  them,  except  as  they  are  per- 
ceived to  be  in  accordance  with  God's  word ;  and  she 
attributes  no  authority  to  them  independently  of  the 
source  from  which  they  were  derived.  If  you  have  a 
human  creed  presented  to  you,  what  you  have  to  do 
with  itj  on  the  principles  of  Protestantism,  is  to  refer  it 
to  the  Law  and  the  Testimony,  and  to  receive  or  reject 
it  according  to  its  agreement  or  disagreement  with  that 
standard.  Having  previously  settled  the  point  that  the 
Bible  contains  a  revelation  from  that  God  who  cannot 
lie,  you  unhesitatingly  receive  whatever  you  believe  it 
contains ;  and  you  desire  no  better  reason, — you  can 
have  no  better  reason,  for  receiving  it,  than  the  fact  that 
God  has  revealed  it.  Hence  your  faith  becomes  a  ra- 
tional act.  It  is  a  simple  reliance  on  the  testimony  of 
God  ;  and  can  be  defended  on  the  strictest  principles  of 
Reason. 

Now  is  it  not  manifest  that  these  two  different  kinds 
of  faith  are  opposite  in  their  nature  and  their  tendencies  ? 
The  one  is  the  legitimate  exercise  of  an  intelligent  prin- 
ciple, and  is  worthy  to  constitute  a  leading  element  in 
the  religious  character:  it  is  the  simple  homage  which 
the  mind  renders  to  the  authority  of  God.  The  other 
is  but  an  ignoble  exercise  of  the  human  intellect;  it  re- 
cognises an  authority  in  the  church  which  God  never 
gave ;  and  submits  to  the  dictation  of  frail  and  fallible 
mortals,  where  it  is  acknowledged  that  God  has  spoken, 
and  the  record  of  what  he  has  said  is  open  to  all  men. 
1  do  not  say  but  that  the  faith  of  the  Romanist  may,  in 
some  respects,  operate  as  poiverfidly  as  the  faith  of  the 
Protestant ;  because  the  former  has  so  much  to  do  with 


216  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

the  senses,  and  the  eye  of  course  affects  the  heart ;  but 
does  it  involve  the  same  degree  of  reverence  for  the  cha- 
racter of  God  ?  Does  it  imply  the  same  homage  to  the 
authority  and  truth  of  God  ?  Is  it  equally  adapted  to 
elevate  the  soul  to  communion  with  God?  Lay  out  of 
view,  if  you  please,  the  different  doctrines  which  faith 
receives  in  the  two  cases,  I  maintain  that  there  is  that 
in  its  very  nature,  as  a  reliance  on  the  testimony  of  God 
or  the  testimony  of  man  in  relation  to  a  subject  on  which 
God  has  spoken,  which  is  fitted  in  the  one  case,  to  ex- 
alt, in  the  other,  to  debase,  not  only  the  intellectual  but 
the  moral  nature. 

2.  Romanism  tends  to  a  gross  and  carnal  worship : 
Protestant  Christianity  to  a  sjnritual  worship. 

Romanism  appeals  chiefly  to  the  senses  and  the  ima- 
gination. If  you  look  into  the  Romish  ritual,  you  can- 
not fail  to  be  struck  w^ith  the  fact  that  it  has  so  much  to 
do  with  external  and  visible  objects  ;  and  if  you  enter  a 
Romish  church  at  the  hour  of  their  devotional  service, 
you  will  perceive  that  there  is  every  thing  to  indicate  that 
the  objects  which  meet  the  eye  are  those  which  princi- 
pally occupy  the  mind.  I  have  already  adverted  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  Romanists  claim  that  the  pictures 
and  images  with  which  their  churches  abound  are  in- 
tended only  as  helps  to  devotion ;  but  in  every  case  in 
which  the  image  purports  to  represent  any  thing  short  of 
the  infinite  God,  (and  an  attempt  to  represent  him^  I 
hardly  need  say,  is  a  direct  violation  of  his  command,) 
it  is  a  help  to  nothing  better  than  gross  idolatry.  But 
however  it  may  be  with  a  few  more  enlightened  indivi- 
duals, I  cannot  resist  the  impression,  even  from  what  I 
have  myself  witnessed,  that  the  multitude  worship  the 
image,  and  nothing  else.  Indeed  I  am  inchned  to  think, 
from  the  very  constitution  of  human  nature,  that  this 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  217 

mode  of  worship  could  not  long  be  practised,  even  by 
the  more  intelligent  and  reflecting  class,  but  that  this 
effect  of  which  I  have  spoken  would,  in  a  considerable 
degree,  be  realized. 

Protestant  Christianity  makes  her  appeal  to  the  intel- 
lect and  the  affections.  When  her  votaries  would  en- 
gage in  the  exercises  of  devotion,  she  summons  them  to 
a  purely  spiritual  service :  instead  of  surrounding  them 
with  splendid  images  on  which  the  eye  and  the  mind 
may  fasten,  she  cuts  them  off,  so  far  as  possible,  from  all 
intercourse  with  external  objects.  The  Being  whom 
they  worship  is  an  invisible  Being :  the  homage  with 
which  they  approach  him  is  the  homage  of  the  heart. 
Indeed  there  is  not  a  more  deeply  spiritual  duty  than 
this  in  which  it  is  possible  for  man  to  engage :  the  un- 
derstanding, the  conscience,  the  affections,  the  whole 
soul,  must  be  awake,  in  order  to  its  being  acceptably 
performed. 

Moreover,  Romanism  keeps  the  mind  conversant  in 
religious  worship  with  objects  of  a  gross  and  grovelling 
character.  Such  are  all  the  representations  which  are 
made  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  images  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  saints,  and  the  relicks  of  the  dead.  And 
here  I  cannot  forbear  to  say  that  the  manner  in  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — "  his  body  and  blood,  soul  and 
divinity" — is  represented  in  the  Eucharist,  can  hardly 
fail  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  derogating  from  his 
divine  dignity.  Is  it  possible  that  the  Romanist  can 
believe  that  he  literally  eats  the  body  and  drinks  the 
blood  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world, — that  he  takes  him 
into  his  hands  and  into  his  hps,  so  that  he  becomes  in- 
corporated with  his  own  body  from  week  to  week, — I 
ask,  is  it  possible  that  he  can  beheve  this,  and  yet  che- 

19 


218  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

rish  towards  him  that  awful  reverence  which  is  due  to 
the  Majesty  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  the  objects  to  which  Protestant 
Christianity  introduces  the  soul  in  religious  worship  are 
all  worthy  and  glorious.  She  allows  no  image  of  Jeho- 
vah, because  He  himself  does  not  allow  it,  and  because 
no  image  can  even  faintly  shadow  forth  his  perfections. 
She  acknowledges  no  intercessor  in  Heaven  but  Jesus 
Christ,  ''  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the 
express  image  of  his  person."  She  inculcates  reliance 
on  no  other  aid  than  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  re- 
garded in  Heaven  as  worthy  of  everlasting  praise.  She 
leads  the  mind  into  a  broad  field  of  heavenly  truth,  in 
which  it  may  wander  forever,  and  yet  be  forever  ad- 
vancing from  glory  to  glory. 

If  such  be  the  nature,  and  such  the  objects,  of  the 
worship,  which  Romanism  and  Protestant  Christianity 
respectively  enjoin,  you  will  easily  discover  the  opposite 
influences  which  they  must  exert  on  the  religious  cha- 
racter. You  have  only  to  bear  in  mind  a  law  of  human 
nature  to  which  I  have  formerly  adverted, — viz,  that  the 
objects  with  which  our  thoughts  and  affections  are  most 
conversant,  necessarily  give,  in  a  great  degree,  a  com- 
plexion to  the  character,  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  Romish  worship  is  fitted  to  leave  upon  the  soul  un- 
worthy impressions,  and  the  Protestant  worship  to  im- 
press upon  it  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 

3.  Romanism  tends  to  a  spirit  of  self -righteousness : 
Protestant  Christianity,  to  a  spirit  of  humility. 

Look,  for  instance,  at  the  Romish  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  works.  If  the  sinner  asks  how  he  is  to  be 
justified  before  God,  he  is  answered  out  of  the  canons  of 
the  church  that  "  the  good  works  of  justified  persons 
are  truly  and  properly  meritorious,  and  that  they  who 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  219 

hold  the  contrary  are  worthy  of  an  anathema."  And 
what  is  the  legitimate  effect  of  this  doctrine  but  to 
cherish  a  self-righteous  spirit?  If  the  doctrine  be  be- 
lieved, such  a  spirit  must  be  the  necessary  result ;  for 
the  one  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  other:  if  it  be 
true,  then  the  indulgence  of  such  a  spirit  cannot  be 
sin ;  for  the  one  is  the  legitimate  result  of  the  other. — 
Look  at  the  doctrine  of  supererogation,  which,  while  it 
includes  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  works,  puts  an 
immense  amount  of  superfluous  merit  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  to  be  distributed  according  to  the  ex- 
igencies of  offenders  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  ability 
to  purchase  it  on  the  other.  And  if  this  is  not  fitted  to 
minister  to  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness  point  me  to  a 
doctrine,  if  you  can,  which  has  that  tendency.  Look 
at  the  splendid  ritual  of  the  Romish  church ; — at  the 
number  of  external  observances  which  it  enjoins,  and 
the  importance  it  attaches  to  them;  at  the  long  and 
tedious  pilgrimages  which  it  prescribes,  and  the  grounds 
on  which  it  urges  them, — and  say  whether  this  is  not 
an  admirable  contrivance  to  make  man  feel  that  he  has 
fairly  earned  his  own  salvation.  Is  it  easy  to  conceive 
that  a  religious  character  can  be  formed  under  such  an 
influence,  without  being  essentially  pharisaical. 

Protestant  Christianity  in  nearly  every  form  is  adapt- 
ed to  awaken  and  cherish  a  spirit  of  humility.  I  say  in 
nearly  every  one ;  for  it  must  be  acknowledged  that, 
while  the  great  mass  of  the  Reformed  churches  are  agreed 
in  respect  to  all  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity, 
there  are  some  who  hold  doctrines  which  lead  to  the 
same  result  in  this  respect,  though  in  a  different  way, 
with  the  doctrines  of  the  Romanists ; — that  is,  they 
make  man's  salvation  depend,  not  on  a  round  of  sense- 
less observances,  but  on  a  round  of  moral  duties; — Christ 


220  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

and  his  atonement  being,  in  both  cases,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, practically  lost  sight  of.  But  the  great  mass  of 
Protestant  churches  acknowledge  a  system,  the  tenden- 
cy of  which  is  to  bring  man  into  the  dust  in  the  deep 
consciousness  of  his  own  guilt.  The  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  while  it  cuts 
off  the  sinner  from  every  hope  of  Heaven  in  virtue  of 
his  own  doings,  makes  him  entirely  dependant  for  salva- 
tion on  an  unmerited  and  most  gracious  divine  interpo- 
sition ;  and  every  other  part  of  the  system  to  which  tliis 
doctrine  belongs,  exhibits  him  in  an  attitude  of  utter 
ruin  and  helplessness ;  an  attitude  in  which  he  cannot 
but  perceive  that  the  deepest  self-abasement  becomes  him. 
In  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  her  worship  too,  Protes- 
tant Christianity  points  to  the  cultivation  of  the  same 
spirit ;  for  she  turns  the  mind  away  from  all  external 
objects  upon  the  invisible  and  infinitely  Holy  God  ;  and 
instead  of  a  course  of  unmeaning  ceremonies,  the  per- 
formance of  which  would  only  cherish  a  self-complacent 
temper,  she  requires  the  simple  homage  of  the  heart,  and 
sta-tions  man  as  a  dependant  suppliant,  not  before  a  pic- 
ture or  an  image,  but  at  the  foot  of  the  eternal  throne. 
I  am  well  aware  that  one  may  'professedly  hold  the 
doctrines  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  go  through  the 
forms  of  the  Protestant  worship,  and  yet  be  a  stranger 
to  evangelical  humility ;  but  if  he  is  really  a  believer,  if 
he  is  really  a  worsliipper,  rely  on  it  he  is  truly  humble. 

4.  Romanism  has  a  tendency  to  rnislead  the  con- 
science :  Protestant  Christianity,  to  give  it  a  right  di- 
rection. 

Romanism  produces  the  effect  which  I  have  here  at- 
tributed to  it,  in  the  first  place,  by  obscuring  the  ride  of 
moral  rectitude.  That  rule,  as  it  is  given  to  us  in  the 
word  of  God,  is  plain  and  simple ;  and  beside  the  rule 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  221 

itself,  we  have  there  various  expositions  of  it,  to  facilitate 
its  application  to  all  the  departments  of  human  conduct. 
And  all  these  expositions,  whether  in  the  form  of  doc- 
trines or  precepts,  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  rule, 
and  are  adapted  to  shed  a  brighter  hght  upon  the  path  of 
duty.  The  Romish  church  obscures  this  rule  by  recogni- 
sing as  canonical  the  Apocryphal  books;  in  which  there 
is  a  strange  mixture  of  truth  and  falsehood,  of  the  rea- 
sonable and  the  absurd,  of  the  grave  and  the  ludicrous: 
and  more  than  that,  she  maintains  that  her  oral  tradi- 
tions which  are  generally  a  mere  mass  of  errour  and 
absurdity,  are  at  least  of  equal  authority  with  the  Scrip- 
tures themselves.  You  will  readily  perceive  that  these 
additions  to  the  perfect  rule  of  faith  which  God  has  given, 
are  adapted  to  throw  the  rule  itself  into  comparative  ob- 
scurity ;  and  as  this  is  the  standard  by  which  conscience 
forms  her  decisions,  in  proportion  as  the  standard  be- 
comes obscure,  she  is  liable  to  be  misled. 

But  there  are  some  of  the  doctrines  and  practices  of 
the  Romish  church,  which  do  more  than  obscure  the 
scriptural  standard  of  morality :  they  directly  contradict 
it.  What  else  is  the  doctrine  of  indulgences  than  a  pal- 
pable contradiction  of  the  rule  of  righteousness,  not  only 
as  it  is  written  in  the  Bible,  but  as  it  is  inscribed  on  the 
moral  constitution  of  man  7  And  what  else  is  the  doc- 
trine that  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  hereticks, — that 
even  an  oath  loses  its  obligatory  power,  if  the  pohcy  of 
the  church  requires  that  its  observance  should  be  dis- 
pensed with  1  Is  it  possible  that  such  doctrines  as  these 
should  be  held,  should  actually  be  reduced  to  practice, 
and  the  original  authority  of  the  conscience  remain  un- 
impaired ?  Can  any  man  receive  these  doctrines  with- 
out making  up  his  mind  that  the  guide  within  is  an  im- 
postor, whose  suggestions  are  not  to  be  trusted  1  Can 
19* 


222  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

any  one  even  try  to  believe  them  without  offering  an  in- 
sult to  his  own  conscience? 

Still  farther :  Romanism,  in  several  of  its  doctrines, 
makes  provision  against  the  reproaches  of  conscience. 
Suppose  a  wretch  has  committed  some  desperate  crime, 
and  conscience  for  a  moment  gets  the  better  of  him,  and 
holds  up  over  him  her  whip  of  scorpions, — to  whom  or 
to  what  can  he  resort  as  an  antidote  to  his  trouble  ? — 
Why  resort  to  the  priest  in  an  act  of  auricular  confession, 
and  receive  from  him  the  assurance  of  a  complete  abso- 
lution ;  while  the  priest  receives  in  return  a  pecuniary 
recompense  for  this  exercise  of  his  forgiving  power. — 
And  then  his  conscience  is  at  rest,  and  he  can  rush  back 
into  scenes  of  crime  with  the  full  conviction  that,  as  the 
past  is  blotted  out,  so  there  is  also  adequate  provision  for 
the  future.  Tell  me  what  deserves  the  name  of  trifling 
with  conscience,  if  it  be  not  such  a  course  as  this !  Is 
there  not  provision  here  to  counteract  every  twinge  of 
remorse,  every  flutter  of  fear,  which  guilt  may  occasion 
in  the  contemplation  of  futurity  ? 

Protestant  Christianity  is,  in  all  these  respects,  the  ex- 
act opposite  of  Romanism.  She  never  tampers  with 
God's  rule,  by  acknowledging  traditions  which  would 
go  to  obscure  it,  or  by  enjoining  practices  which  would 
serve  to  nullify  it.  She  tolerates  sin  under  no  conceiva- 
ble circumstances,  and  provides  no  antidote  against  re- 
morse, except  what  is  found  in  the  assurance  of  God's 
forgiving  mercy.  The  wretch  who  has  stolen  his  neigh- 
bour's property,  or  stabbed  his  neighbour's  character,  or 
taken  his  neighbour's  life,  she  leaves  a  prey  to  his  own 
pungent  reflections  and  gloomy  forebodings,  until  he 
finds  a  refuge  from  them  in  the  peace  speaking  blood  of 
Christ.    In  short,  all  her  doctrines  and  precepts  are 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  223 

adapted  to  pour  light  into  the  conscience,  and  to  cause 
her  mandates  both  to  be  respected  and  obeyed. 

5.  Romanism  is  adapted  to  license  and  invigorate 
the  corrupt  propensities  of  the  heart :  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity, to  restrain  and  mortify  them. 

Romanism  operates  to  the  accomphshment  of  this  end 
both  indirectly  and  directly, 

—  Indirectly^  By  keeping  the  mind  in  bondage  to 
ignorance,  and  keeping  the  conscience  from  its  appropri- 
ate work. 

I  refer  here  not  so  much  to  the  general  ignorance 
which  this  system  necessarily  produces  and  perpetuates, 
as  to  that  which  relates  more  immediately  to  the  great 
principles  of  morality  and  religion ;  for  though  the 
former  certainly  has  a  powerful  tendency  to  foster  the 
evil  propensities,  as  is  proved  by  the  history  of  every  bar- 
barous nation,  yet  it  is  the  latter  which  originates  the 
highest  degree  of  debasement,  and  carries  forward  most 
rapidly  the  process  of  turning  man  into  a  brute.  Let 
the  sources  of  moral  information  be  effectually  sealed,  as 
they  are  by  the  influence  of  this  system  ;  let  the  people 
be  cut  ofl^  from  all  access  to  the  Bible  and  other  books 
which  explain  its  doctrines  and  enforce  its  precepts ; — 
and  what  better  can  you  expect  than  that  they  will  be- 
come the  slaves  of  mere  animal  appetite,  and  that  the 
corrupt  propensities  will  gather  strength,  just  in  propor- 
tion as  the  mind  is  deprived  of  its  appropriate  ahment? 

But  Romanism  produces  this  effect  still  farther  by  im- 
pairing the  sensibility  of  conscieiice.  It  is  by  indulgence 
that  the  corrupt  inclinations  gather  strength :  of  course, 
whatever  has  a  tendency  to  remove  the  obstacles  to  the 
indulgence  of  these  inclinations,  indirectly  ministers  to 
their  vigor.  Now  it  requires  not  a  moment's  reflection 
to  perceive  that  one  of  the  most  effectual  of  these  obsta- 


224  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

cles  is  to  be  found  in  an  enlightened  and  active  con- 
science :  for  let  who  will  make  the  experiment  of  perpe- 
trating a  wicked  act, — unless  he  has  become  trained  to 
a  habit  of  desperate  depravity,  he  will  find  himself  chiefly- 
embarrassed  by  the  remonstrances  from  within  ;  and  if 
these  remonstrances  are  not  powerful  enough  to  palsy 
the  hand  that  is  lifted  for  some  presumptuous  deed,  or 
bring  faintness  to  the  heart  that  has  been  brooding  over 
some  desperate  purpose,  yet  they  at  least  force  the  mind 
to  a  temporary  communion  with  the  future,  and  esta- 
blish the  doctrine  that  the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard. 
But  I  have  already  shown  you  that  this  system  has  a 
direct  tendency  to  mislead  the  conscience  and  diminish 
its  authority  :  hence  it  follows  that  it  is  fitted  to  increase 
the  strength  and  activity  of  the  corrupt  inclinations. 

But  there  is  not  only  an  indirect  but  a  direct  influ- 
ence exerted  by  Romanism  in  favour  of  a  habit  of  sin. 
What  else  is  impUed  in  the  doctrine  of  indulgences  than 
a  direct  permission  from  the  church  to  violate  God's  com- 
mandments for  the  benefit  of  the  church  ?  What  else 
does  the  Romish  doctrine  of  absolution  imply, — what 
else  is  it  understood  by  the  great  mass  of  those  who  hold 
it,  to  imply,  than  that  doing  penance  for  the  past  is  the 
proper  preparation  for  entering  on  a  new  course  of  sin  ? 
If  it  be  admitted  that  the  church  which  inculcates  these 
doctrines  is  infallible,  what  better  warrant  can  any  sin- 
ner need  than  he  here  finds,  for  gratifying  his  evil  pro- 
pensities to  the  utmost  ?  If  Romanism  recognises  some 
doctrines  and  precepts  which  forbid  the  indulgence  of  the 
depraved  feelings,  as  she  certainly  does,  is  there  not  in 
this  part  of  the  system  to  which  I  have  now  adverted  pro- 
vision for  effectually  neutrahzing  their  influence  ? 

Protestant  Christianity  exerts  an  opposite  influence, 
by  giving  light  to  the  understanding  and  energy  to  the 


CONTRASTED    WITH     ROMANISM.  225 

conscience;  by  bringing  man  in  contact  with  those 
truths  which  are  adapted  to  elevate  his  intellectual  na- 
ture, and  quicken  his  moral  sensibility.  She  holds  up 
before  him  continually  God's  rule  of  righteousness  ;— 
the  rule  to  which  his  actions  are  to  be  conformed,  and 
by  which  his  destiny  is  to  be  decided.  She  shows  him 
that  the  least  violation  of  this  rule  is  sin  ;  and  that  the 
least  sin  incurs  the  divine  displeasure ;  and  that  that 
displeasure  can  only  be  averted  by  repentance  toward 
God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  doc- 
trine which  she  inculcates  respecting  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  instead  of  supplying  motives  for  self-indulgence,  she 
furnishes  the  most  powerful  arguments  for  self-denial; 
and  while  she  points  to  the  cross  of  Christ  on  the  one 
hand,  she  appeals  to  every  principle  of  our  nature  on 
the  other,  in  aid  of  a  holy  life.  Indeed  the  whole  sys- 
tem is  adapted  to  bridle,  to  subdue,  and  ultimately  to 
exterminate,  the  corrupt  propensities,  and  to  bring  in  their 
place  those  virtues  and  graces  which  were  never  origi- 
nated or  sustained  by  any  mere  human  influence. 
It  only  remains  to  contrast  these  systems, 

V.    In  THEIR  EFFECTS  ON  HUMAN  SOCIETY. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  you,  under  the  preceding 
article,  what  these  systems  are  adapted  to  accomphsh, 
by  referring  you  to  some  of  their  leading  constituent 
principles:  in  the  progress  of  this  division  of  the  dis- 
course, we  shall  perceive  that  the  actual  results  of  each 
system  have  been  precisely  in  accordance  with  what  we 
have  already  seen  are  their  legitimate  tendencies. 

It  cannot,  I  think,  fail  to  occur  to  you,  in  contempla- 
ting this  branch  of  our  subject,  that  Romanism,  in  many 
of  its  practical  bearings,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to 
Mohamedism.  There  is,  however,  this  difference  be- 
tween the  two, — that  the  former  laid  the  foundation  for 


226  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

the  latter.  When  Mohamed  arose,  he  found  the  Chris- 
tian church  Httle  better  than  a  mere  nursery  of  supersti- 
tion and  barbarism  ;  and  we  have  aheady  seen  to  how 
much  account  he  turned  it  in  the  propagation  of  his  im- 
posture. Romanism  then  is  the  stock  on  which  Moha- 
medism  is  engrafted ;  but  they  have  risen  and  grown 
together  for  ages ;  and  though,  in  many  respects,  they 
bear  a  different  and  even  opposite  character,  yet,  in  their 
more  general  and  ultimate  results,  they  are  scarcely  to 
be  distinguished.     I  observe 

1.  That  Romanism  has  overspread  the  world  with 
a  darkiiess  that  coidd  he  felt ;  while  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity has  arisen  upon  the  luorld  like  the  sun  with 
healing  in  his  beams. 

I  had  occasion  in  the  preceding  discourse  to  advert  to 
the  almost  incredible  degree  of  ignorance  and  barbarism 
which  prevailed  in  the  Romish  church  during  the  mid- 
dle ages.  The  luminaries  of  preceding  centuries  had 
now  scarcely  a  name  upon  the  earth ;  and  the  dim  lights 
which  had  come  in  place  of  them,  hardly  emitted  a  ray 
beyond  the  deep  recesses  of  monastic  life.  Can  any 
fact  illustrate  this  position  more  strikingly  than  the  well 
authenticated  one,  that  many  of  the  higher  order  of  ec- 
clesiastics were  unable  to  write  their  own  sermons,  and 
some,  even  to  write  their  own  names  ?  And  not  only 
were  the  dignitaries  of  the  church  grossly  ignorant,  but 
they  were  the  declared  enemies  of  learning,  and  even 
regarded  it  criminal  for  men  to  cultivate  their  own  facul- 
ties. Witness  the  case  of  Virgil,  a  Bavarian  Bishop  of 
the  eighth  century,  whom  Pope  Zachary  denounced  for 
presuming  to  teach  that  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth  is 
inhabited ;  saying  to  his  legate,  "  If  he  persist  in  this 
heresy,  strip  him  of  his  priesthood ;  and  drive  him  from 
the  temple  and  altars  of  God."    Witness  too  in  more 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  227 

modern  times  the  case  of  Gallileo,  the  Astronomer  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  who  was  well  nigh  persecuted  unto 
death  by  the  Romish  church,  for  holding  the  enormous 
heresy  that  the  earth  revolves  around  the  sun.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion of  Rome  in  1633,  acting  under  the  direction  of  Pope 
Urban,  in  the  case  of  this  illustrious  man: — "Whereas 
you,  Gallileo,  aged  seventy  years,  were  denounced  for 
holding  as  true,  a  false  doctrine  taught  by  many,  that  the 
sun  is  immoveable  in  the  centre  of  the  world,  and  that  the 
earth  moves ;  therefore  this  holy  tribunal,  desirous  of  pro- 
viding against  the  disorder  and  mischief  proceeding  and 
increasing,  to  the  detriment  of  the  holy  faith,  by  the  desire 
of  his  Holiness,  the  two  propositions  are  qualified  by  the 
theological  qualifiers  as  follows : — 1st.  The  proposition 
that  the  sun  is  the  centre  of  the  world,  and  immoveable 
from  its  place,  is  absurd,  philosophically  false,  and  formal- 
ly heretical ;  because  expressly  contrary  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. 2d.  The  proposition  that  the  earth  is  not  the  cen- 
tre of  the  world,  nor  immoveable,  but  that  it  moves,  and 
has  also  a  diurnal  motion,  is  also  absurd,  philosophically 
false,  and  theologically  considered  at  least  erroneous  in 
faith."  ....  "  Consequently  you  have  incurred  aU 
the  censures  and  penalties  appointed  and  promulgated 
by  the  sacred  canons,  from  which  it  is  our  pleasure  that 
you  should  be  absolved,  provided  that  you  do  first  with 
a  sincere  heart  and  a  true  faith,  abjure,  curse,  and  detest 
before  us,  the  aforesaid  errours  and  heresies,  and  every 
other  errour  and  heresy  contrary  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  in  the  form  which  shall  be  prescribed  to  you  by 
us."  Accordingly,  Gallileo,  as  the  only  means  of  saving 
his  life,  actually  did  renounce,  under  oath,  those  sublime 
philosophical  truths  which  it  had  been  the  work  of  his 
life  to  establish,  and  which  have  surrounded  his  name 


228  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

with  a  halo  of  glory.  Think  of  the  old  philosopher  re- 
ceiving the  reward  for  his  noble  discoveries,  by  being 
cast  into  a  dungeon  at  the  age  of  seventy,  with  the  hor- 
rid alternative  of  abjuring  as  false  and  mischievous  what 
he  knew  to  be  great  and  glorious  truths,  or  else  of  being 
broken  upon  the  wheel  or  burnt  at  the  stake !  Do  I 
wrong  the  church  that  could  be  guilty  of  such  an  act, 
when  I  say  that  she  has  been  the  great  patron  of  bar- 
barism? 

Nor  has  the  Romish  church  been  more  tolerant  toward 
the  records  and  monuments  of  learning  than  toward  its 
promoters  and  friends.  I  may  instance  the  conduct  of 
the  fanatical  Zumaraga,  first  Bishop  of  Mexico,  who 
caused  all  the  symbohcal  writings  and  monuments  of 
the  Mexicans  to  be  destroyed,  on  the  alleged  ground  that 
they  were  diabolical  works  and  savoured  of  heresy ; — 
also  that  of  Cisneros,  an  inquisitor  of  Spain,  who  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  eighty  thousand  volumes  of  the 
most  valuable  works  extant  in  all  the  departments  of 
science.  Look  over  those  countries  where  the  Romish 
religion  now  prevails ; — look  at  Spain,  Portugal  and  Ita- 
ly, and  fathom,  if  you  can,  the  depths  of  ignorance  and 
barbarism  which  prevail  there!  Are  the  inhabitants, 
think  you,  who  are  able  to  read,  allowed  to  select  their 
own  books  ?  No,  not  without  the  most  careful  attention 
to  the  prohibited  list ; — a  list  which  occupies  many  folio 
Volumes,  and  includes  such  names  as  Bacon  and  Locke. 
Milton  and  Young,  Watts  and  Cowper,  Addison  and 
Johnson,  and  almost  every  other  illustrious  Protestant 
author  in  every  language.  But  in  respect  to  much  the 
greater  portion  of  the  people  this  catalogue  is  quite  useless; 
for  they  are  exempted  from  the  liability  to  read  heretical 
books  by  their  inability  to  read  any  at  all.  Rely  on  it, 
the  human  mind  there  is  yet  in  a  deep  sleep ;  and  the 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.^  229 

only  hope  that  it  will  be  brought  out  of  its  lethargy  is 
connected  with  the  hope  that  it  will  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  some  other  rehgious  system. 

I  need  not  stop  to  describe  particularly  the  effects  of 
Protestant  Christianity  ia  reference  to  the  great  cause  of 
intellectual  and  social  improvement.  That  man  knows 
nothing  of  her  history,  who  does  not  know  that  wherever 
she  has  planted  herself,  she  has  kindled  up  around  her 
the  lights  of  learning  and  science,  and  has  been  hailed 
as  a  dehverer  from  mental  darkness  and  bondage. — 
Compare,  for  instance,  the  intellectual  condition  of  the 
nietropolis  of  Scotland  with  that  of  Spain  or  Italy;  and 
while  in  the  former  you  find  a  magnificent  galaxy  of 
great  and  cultivated  minds,  and  see  all  of  every  class 
and  of  every  age  walking,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in 
the  light  of  the  sun  of  science,  in  the  latter  you  find  a 
mere  mass  of  intellectual  debasement ; — the  multitude 
effectually  shut  out  from  the  means  of  acquiring  know- 
ledge, and  only  here  and  there  an  individual  who  attains 
to  a  respectable  mediocrity.  Or  you  may  take  a  case 
which  you  can  estimate  the  better  as  it  lies  nearer  home: 
I  refer  to  the  intellectual  state  of  New  England  and  of 
Lower  Canada.  These  two  tracts  of  country  were  ori- 
ginally settled  at  periods  not  very  remote  from  each  other ; 
but  the  former  was  settled  by  Protestants,  the  latter  by 
Romanists.  And  now  I  ask  you  to  judge  of  the  intel- 
lectual influence  of  the  two  systems,  by  travelling 
through  these  two  portions  of  country,  in  which  they 
have  respectively  had  their  operation.  In  the  one  you 
are  surrounded  by  monuments  of  intelligence,  and  every 
village  through  which  you  pass  has  its  provision  for  form- 
ing the  minds  of  the  rising  generation :  in  the  other  you 
find  the  human  faculties  in  a  great  degree  torpid  from  a 
long  habit  of  inaction ;  and  almost  every  thing  you  see 

20 


230  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

and  hear  proclaims  that  you  are  walking  over  a  field  of 
deep  mental  degradation.  Allowing  to  other  causes 
their  full  influence  in  producing  this  difference,  I  insist 
that  it  is  to  be  referred  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  two  reli- 
gious systems  have  prevailed  of  directly  opposite  tenden- 
cies. 

2.  Romanism  has  opened  upon  the  loorld  the  flood- 
gates of  crime :  Protestant  Christianity  has  done  much 
to  restore  to  the  world  a  pure  and  scriptural  onorality, 

I  might  easily  show  you  by  a  reference  to  the  history 
of  Romanism,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  species  of  wick- 
edness, however  refined  or  however  gross,  but  has  been 
unblushingly  practised  under  the  sanction  of  the  Romish 
church.  But  I  shall  Hmit  myself  on  the  present  occa- 
sion to  a  consideration  of  two  of  them, — viz.  Treachery 
and  Cruelty ;  and  even  in  respect  to  these  I  can  only 
sketch  the  most  general  outline. 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  remark  that  the  Ro- 
mish church  has  decided  that  there  is  no  faith  to  be  kept 
with  hereticks :  precisely  that  doctrine  was  estabhshed 
by  the  council  of  Constance  in  1414 ;  and  she  has  acted 
upon  it  in  instances  almost  innumerable.  Never  was 
there  a  more  flagrant  example  of  treachery  than  was 
exhibited  in  her  treatment  of  that  eminent  Reformer, 
John  Huss.  Having  been  summoned  to  appear  before 
the  council  of  Constance,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of 
having  deserted  the  church  of  Rome,  he  obeyed  the 
summons ;  though  not  without  having  received  from  the 
Emperor  Sigismund  a  pledge  of  his  protection  till  he 
should  return  to  his  own  home.  His  enemies,  however, 
by  the  most  scandalous  violation  of  publick  faith,  impri- 
soned him,  condemned  him  as  a  heretick,  and  burnt  him 
aUve ;  and  that  too  even  when  the  emperor  interposed 
and  pleaded  that  his  royal  honour  was  pledged  for  his 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  231 

safety.  The  same  horrible  doctrine  was  practically  re- 
cognised by  Innocent  lY.  and  the  council  of  Lyons,  in 
deposing  Frederick  II.  and  absolving  his  subjects  from 
their  oath  of  allegiance ;  by  Pius  V.  in  performing  a  si- 
milar act  in  the  case  of  dueen  Elizabeth ;  by  Clement 
VII.  in  compelling  Charles  V.  in  violation  of  his  oath  to 
turn  the  whole  race  of  the  Moors  in  Spain  over  to  the 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition ;  and  by  Louis  XIV.  in  the  un- 
principled revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  against  the 
faith  of  the  most  solemn  treaites, — the  consequence  of 
which  was  that  France  was  deluged  with  the  blood  of 
the  Protestants.  In  these  and  innumerable  other  in- 
stances the  Romish  church  has  not  only  prostituted  her 
honour,  but  has  most  grossly  perjured  herself,  in  the  per- 
son of  him  whom  she  has  recognised  as  her  Head ;  and 
that  too,  to  gratify  private  resentments,  or  to  sustain  a 
corrupt  and  cmel  hierarchy. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  cruelty  is  joined  to 
treachery  in  the  whole  economy  and  history  of  Roman- 
ism. No  matter  wh at  amiable  quahties  a  Romish  Bishop 
may  possess,  he  is  bound  by  his  oath  to  be  a  persecutor; 
and  if  he  does  not  persecute  hereticks  to  the  extent  of 
his  ability,  he  is  a  perjured  man.  Hear  the  oath  which 
every  Bishop  is  obliged  to  take  previous  to  his  consecra- 
tion : — "  I  swear  that  hereticks,  and  schismaticks,  and 
rebels  to  our  Lord,  the  Lord  Pope,  or  his  successors,  I 
will,  to  the  extent  of  my  power,  persecute  and  beat  down : 
So  help  me  God,  and  the  holy  gospels  of  God."  Now 
I  venture  to  say  that  you  may  go  through  the  history  of 
the  Romish  church,  and  you  ^vill  find  that,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  fate  of  other  oaths  by  which  their 
ecclesiastics  have  bound  themselves,  this  has  generally 
been  kept ;  at  least  so  far  as  considerations  of  policy  would 
warrant. 


232 


PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 


The  lighter  kind  of  persecution  which  this  church 
has  carried  on  has  been  by  curses  and  excommunica- 
tions. As  a  specimen  of  this  I  will  quote  part  of  the 
form  which  was  uttered  by  the  Pope  against  his  manu- 
facturer of  alum,  for  eloping  from  his  alum  works,  and 
carrying  the  chemical  secret  lo  England: — "May  God 
the  Father  curse  him  !  May  God  the  Son  curse  him! 
May  the  Holy  Ghost  curse  him !  May  the  Holy  Cross 
curse  him !  May  the  Holy  and  eternal  Virgin  Mary 
curse  him !  May  Saint  Michael  curse  him !  May  John 
the  Baptist  curse  him !  May  Saint  Peter,  and  Saint 
Paul,  and  Saint  Andrew,  and  all  the  Apostles  and  disci- 
ples, curse  him  !  May  all  the  martyrs  and  confessors 
curse  him  !  May  all  the  saints  from  the  beginning  of 
time  to  everlasting  curse  him  !  May  he  be  cursed  in 
the  house  and  in  the  fields  !  May  he  be  cursed  while 
living  and  dying !  May  he  be  cursed  in  all  the  powers 
of  his  body  within  and  without!  May  he  be  cursed 
from  the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  sole  of  his  feet !  May 
Heaven  and  all  the  powers  therein  rise  against  him  to 
damn  him,  unless  he  repent  and  make  satisfaction  I" — 
Such  are  some  of  the  execrations  with  which  his  Holi- 
ness thought  proper  to  pursue  the  man  who  had  run  off 
with  the  secret  of  making  alum.  If  the  offender  could 
have  been  caught,  how  quickly  would  the  dungeon  or 
the  rack  have  been  made  ready  for  him  ! 

It  had  been  well  if  the  Romish  church  had  never  car- 
ried forward  her  persecutions  by  means  of  any  other 
weapons  than  the  tongue  and  the  pen ;  but  you  need 
not  be  told  that  what  I  have  already  referred  to  is  much 
the  milder  part  of  her  agency.  She  has  wielded  the 
sword  with  most  desolating  effect.  She  has  exhausted 
her  ingenuity  in  inventing  instruments  of  torture ;  and, 
so  far  as  she  could,  has  laid  the  very  elements  under 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  233 

contribution  to  help  forward  her  bloody  work.  Is  there 
an  individual  who  is  ready  to  pronounce  this  state- 
ment too  broad  or  too  strong  to  consist  with  the  simple 
verity  ?  Then,  as  a  cure  for  his  skepticism,  let  him  read 
the  history  of  the  Waldenses  and  the  Albigenses  through 
a  long  succession  of  generations,  and  see  how  the  blood 
of  those  inoffensive  and  excellent  people  flowed  like  a 
river  from  under  the  hand  of  papal  persecution.  Let 
him  cast  an  eye  over  the  plains  of  Languedoc,  or  the 
mountains  of  Bohemia,  or  the  green  fields  of  Spain,  and 
see  them  covered  with  the  dying  and  the  dead ; — the 
fearful  result  of  those  fanatical  and  desperate  conflicts 
for  which  the  Romish  church  is  solely  responsible.  Let 
him  transport  himself  to  Paris  amidst  the  horrours  of  the 
Saint  Bartholomew  massacre ;  and  see  how  her  streets 
are  paved  with  corpses,  and  her  palaces  are  deluged  with 
blood,  and  every  breeze  that  passes  over  her  bears  off 
ten  thousand  dying  groans.  Let  him  in  imagination 
travel  through  Holland,  while  her  sons  are  dying  by  tens 
of  thousands  in  the  massacre  occasioned  by  the  Duke 
of  Alva ;  or  through  England,  while  the  followers  of 
Wickliffe  are  having  a  full  cup  of  vengeance  wrung 
out  to  them ;  and  I  venture  to  predict  that  he  will  be 
prepared  to  respond  to  any  statement  which  I  have  made, 
and  even  to  say  that  the  half  has  not  been  told  him. 

I  can  do  no  justice  to  this  part  of  my  subject  without 
adverting  to  the  iNauisiTioN ; — the  most  powerful  and 
the  most  terrifick  engine  which  any  community,  whether 
civil  or  ecclesiastical,  ever  wielded.  But  there  are  two 
reasons  why  I  shall  attempt  nothing  beyond  a  very  ge- 
neral view  of  it.  The  one  is,  that  the  limits  which  I 
have  prescribed  to  myself  will  not  allow  me  to  be  parti- 
cular :  the  other  is,  that  I  am  sure  there  is  horrour  enough 
in  the  simple  outline,  to  make  you  more  than  willing 
20* 


234  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

that  I  should  dispense  with  the  fiUing  up.  Lend  your 
attention  then  to  a  few  facts  in  relation  to  this  subject, 
which  are  confirmed  by  most  authentic  and  ample  testi- 
mony. 

The  Inquisition,  as  you  know,  is  a  tribunal  erected  by 
the  Popes  for  the  examination  and  punishment  of  here- 
ticks.  It  originated  in  the  twelfth  century  under  the 
patronage  of  Pope  Innocent  III.  The  earhest  inquisi- 
tor was  Dominick ;  a  man  whom  the  Romish  church 
has  canonized  as  a  saint,  but  whom  all  the  world  besides 
has  branded  as  a  fiend.  This  abominable  court  has 
been  estabUshed  in  several  European  countries ;  but  no 
where  has  it  acted  with  such  malignant  energy,  no  where 
have  its  dungeons  been  so  much  like  the  vaults  of  Hell, 
or  the  economy  of  its  conductors  so  much  like  the  eco- 
nomy of  devils,  as  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  It  has  been 
horrible  enough  in  Italy.  It  was  forced  for  a  time  upon 
France  and  Germany ;  but  in  neither  of  those  countries 
did  it  ever  gain  a  permanent  footing.  Great  Britain  has 
uniformly  and  successfully  resisted  it.  At  present  the 
grand  Inquisition  is  known  only  in  history  ;  though  it 
is  only  within  a  few  years  that  it  has  been  abolished ; 
and  there  is  much  reason  to  beUeve  that  this  infernal  en- 
gine is  still  in  operation  on  a  smaller  scale  in  different 
parts  of  Continental  Europe.  Of  course  it  moves  now 
in  the  deepest  silence,  conscious  that  its  doings  will  not 
bear  to  be  looked  at  by  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury ;  but  if  it  could  borrow  power  from  the  spirit  of  the 
age  to  extend  its  dominion,  I  see  no  evidence  that  it 
would  not  bring  back,  in  their  full  extent,  the  tragical 
horrours  of  preceding  centuries. 

In  Spain  there  were  at  one  time  no  less  than  eighteen 
different  Inquisitorial  courts ;  and  beside  the  vast  num- 
bers who  were  immediately  connected  with  them  as  offi- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  235 

cers,  there  were  twenty  thousand  familiars,  or  spies,  scat- 
tered throughout  the  country,  whose  business  it  was  to 
mingle  in  all  companies,  and  drag  all  suspected  persons 
to  the  cells  of  the  Inquisition.  Neither  youth,  nor  beau- 
ty, nor  virtue,  nor  age,  nor  the  sacredness  of  domestick 
relations,  furnished  the  least  security  against  the  ruthless 
hand  of  these  apostles  from  the  pit.  No  man  could  lay 
his  head  upon  his  pillow  without  anxiety ;  for  he  could 
feel  no  assurance  but  that,  before  the  light  of  another 
day,  himself,  or  his  wife,  or  his  child,  would  receive  a 
summons  as  awful  and  as  irresistible,  as  if  it  had  come 
from  the  king  of  terrours.  No  family  could  separate 
for  the  night,  but  the  appalling  conviction  must  have 
forced  itself  upon  them  that  they  were  not  improbably 
taking  of  each  other  a  final  leave.  Fancy,  if  you  can, 
the  horrour  of  the  scene,  when  the  prison  carriage  was 
heard  at  the  dead  of  night  to  stop  before  the  door ;  and 
immediately  a  loud  knock  was  accompanied  by  the  stern 
command,  "  Open  to  the  holy  Inquisition ;"  and  every 
inmate  of  the  dwelHng  felt  his  blood  curdle  at  the  sound; 
and  the  head  of  the  family  was  called  upon  to  give  up 
the  mother  of  his  beloved  and  helpless  children ;  and  he 
dared  not  even  to  whisper  an  objection  or  let  fall  a  tear ; 
but  hastened  back  to  her  chamber,  and  led  her  out,  and 
put  her  into  the  custody  of  an  incarnate  demon ;  and 
then,  as  the  prison  carriage  rolled  away  to  the  dungeon, 
oh  how  that  husband  was  convulsed  with  agony,  as  he 
contemplated  her  the  innocent  victim  of  a  long  and 
living  death.  The  movements  of  these  familiars  were 
conducted  with  such  profound  secrecy  that  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  members  of  the  same  family  to  be  igno- 
rant of  each  others'  apprehension.  One  instance  is  re- 
corded in  which  a  father,  three  sons  and  three  daughters, 
all  of  whom  occupied  the  same  house,  were  separately 


236  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

seized  and  thrown  into  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition, 
and  knew  nothing  of  each  others'  fate  till  after  seven 
years  of  torture,  those  of  them  who  survived,  met  to 
mingle  their  death  groans  at  an  auto  da  fe.  And  as 
the  process  of  apprehension  was  usually  conducted  with 
the  utmost  silence,  so,  when  the  wretched  victim  was 
actually  apprehended  and  carried  to  the  dungeon  for  tri- 
al, he  was  never  confronted  by  his  accuser,  or  even  told 
what  was  the  crime  for  which  he  had  been  arrested ; 
but  was  left  to  conjecture  the  crime,  and  to  accuse  him- 
self: and  if  he  did  not  instantly  confess,  confession  was 
extorted  from  him  by  virtue  of  the  rack. 

Shall  I  conduct  you  to  that  abode  of  horrour,  that 
ante-chamber  of  Hell,  in  which  these  deeds  of  darkness 
are  perpetrated?  The  very  exterior  of  the  building 
indicates  that  it  was  made  for  some  malignant  purpose. 
You  enter  it  by  massive  doors,  and  are  led  on  by  narrow 
and  winding  passages,  rendered  still  more  horrible  by  the 
dim  torch  light  which  pervades  them,  till  you  reach 
the  dungeons  in  which  men  die  by  torture.  And  here 
is  the  depository  of  every  thing  that  human  ingenuity 
has  invented  to  cause  a  protracted  and  agonizing  death. 
There  is  the  torture  by  water ;  and  the  torture  by  fire ; 
and  the  torture  by  the  pendulum ;  and  the  torture  by 
the  rack ;  each  one  of  which,  if  it  were  to  be  described 
to  you,  would  cause  your  blood  to  freeze  with  horrour. 
When  the  vaults  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  were  thrown 
open  by  the  troops  of  Napoleon,  an  image  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  was  discovered  which,  on  inspection,  was  found  to 
be  a  torturing  engine.  She  wore  beneath  her  robes  a 
metal  breastplate,  thickly  stuck  with  needles,  spikes  and 
lancets.  The  familiar  who  was  present  was  requested 
to  work  the  engine ;  and  he  did  so.  As  she  raised  her 
arms  as  if  to  embrace,  a  knapsack  was  thrown  into 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  237 

them ;  and  in  closing  them  upon  it,  she  pierced  it  through 
in  a  hundred  places.  To  the  living  victim  it  would 
have  proved  instantly  the  embrace  of  death. 

But  the  consummation  of  the  tragic  scenes  of  the  In- 
quisition is  in  the  auto  da  fe.  On  this  occasion  which 
always  occurs  on  the  Sabbath,  and  usually  in  connexion 
with  some  great  festival,  the  prisoners  are  brought  forth 
from  their  dungeons  to  have  their  doom  finally  decided. 
Each  one  knows  what  his  doom  is  to  be  by  the  manner 
in  which  he  is  habited  ; — those  who  are  absolved  as  in- 
nocent, wearing  black  coats  without  sleeves; — those 
who  have  narrowly  escaped  being  burnt,  having  upon 
their  black  coats  flames  painted,  with  their  points  turned 
downwards; — those  who  are  first  to  be  strangled  and 
then  burnt,  having  flames  on  their  habits  pointing  up- 
wards ; — and  those  who  are  to  be  burnt  alive,  having, 
besides  the  flames  pointing  upwards,  their  own  picture 
painted  on  their  breasts,  surrounded  with  the  pictures  of 
dogs,  and  serpents  and  devils.  A  procession  is  now 
formed  consisting  of  the  Dominican  friars,  the  prisoners, 
and  after  them,  the  familiars  and  inquisitors,  and  moves 
with  the  utmost  solemnity  to  a  scaffold  large  enough  to 
accommodate  several  thousand  people.  If  a  prisoner  on 
the  way  ventures  to  speak,  he  does  it  at  the  peril  of  be- 
ing instantly  gagged.  On  their  arrival  at  the  scaffbldj 
there  is  delivered  a  miserable  declamation  called  a  ser- 
mon, made  up  of  the  most  lofty  encomiums  of  the  Holy 
Inquisition,  and  of  the  most  bitter  invectives  against  he- 
reticks ;  after  which,  a  priest  recites  the  final  sentence  of 
those  who  are  to  suflfer  death,  and  delivers  them  over  to 
the  civil  magistrate  ;  at  the  same  time  begging,  with  the 
hypocrisy  of  an  arch  fiend,  that  the  secular  arm  may  not 
touch  their  blood  or  put  their  lives  in  jeopardy  !  Being 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  civil  magistrate,  they  are  loaded 


238  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

with  chains,  and  carried  first  to  the  secular  jail;  thence 
to  the  judge  to  receive  their  sentence ;  and  thence  to  the 
place  of  execution.  But  the  closing  scene  I  cannot  at- 
tempt to  describe.  I  will  only  say  that  you  gain  no  ade- 
quate idea  of  it  by  being  told  that  they  are  burnt  at  the 
stake.  Pagan  Rome  burnt  Christians ;  but  she  never 
did  it  with  that  refinement  of  torture  which  completes 
the  horrible  tragedy  of  the  Inquisition. 

You  will  readily  infer  from  the  statements  already 
made,  that  the  desolation  occasioned  by  the  Romish 
church  in  diflferent  ages  is  so  vast  and  varied,  that  it 
scarcely  admits  of  being  accurately  estimated.  Accord- 
ing to  the  best  authorities,  however,  she  has  been  instru- 
mental of  the  destruction  of  a  million  and  a  half  of 
Moors  in  Spain  ;  nearly  two  millions  of  Jews  in  Europe ; 
fifteen  millions  of  Indians  in  Mexico  and  South  Ameri- 
ca, including  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  St.  Domingo; 
and  about  fifty  millions  of  Protestants,  in  Europe  and 
the  East  Indies;  making  in  the  whole  the  appalling 
number  of  sixty-eight  millions  and  five  hundred  thou- 
sand !  Was  there  not  a  fearful  significance  in  that  part 
of  John's  vision  which  represents  her  as  "  the  woman  in 
scarlet  on  the  scarlet  coloured  beast  T 

Turn  now  to  those  countries  in  which  Protestant 
Christianity  has  prevailed,  and  thus  let  your  mind  be 
reUeved  from  the  horrours  you  have  been  contemplating. 
I  well  know  that  they  are  not  what  the  gospel  of  Christ 
requires  them  to  be,  and  that  they  are  chargeable  i|i 
no  small  degree,  with  open  and  gross  immoralities ;  and 
the  reason  of  this  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  fact  that 
men,  under  the  influence  of  passion  and  appetite,  will 
not  always  be  restrained  from  sin  even  by  the  force  of 
their  own  convictions ;  though  we  are  not  to  lose  sight 
of  another  fact — viz,  that  in  no  country  does  Protestant^ 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  239 

ism  exist  but  in  connexion  with  other  systems.  But 
wliile  I  acknowledge  that  the  Protestant  faith  has  by  no 
means  done  for  the  world  all  that  could  be  desired,  I 
maintain, — and  I  appeal  confidently  to  facts  to  justify 
me  in  doing  so, — that,  wherever  this  system  has  pre- 
vailed, and  just  in  proportion  as  it  has  prevailed,  it  has 
served  to  purify  and  elevate  not  only  individual  but  na- 
tional character.  Under  its  influence  man  has  learned 
to  respect  the  rights  of  his  fellow  man  ;  and  instead  of 
plunging  a  dagger  into  his  brother's  bosom  because  he 
has  ventured  to  think  for  himself,  he  has  acknowledged 
his  right  to  do  so,  and  bid  him  sit  unmolested  under  his 
own  vine  and  fig  tree.  And  while  there  belongs  to  Pro- 
testantism a  spirit  of  due  toleration  in  respect  to  religious 
opinions,  who  can  deny  that  its  general  influence  has 
been  on  the  side  of  a  scriptural  morality  ?  Cast  your 
eye  over  the  map  of  the  world,  and  tell  me  where  the 
Christian  virtues  are  most  eminently  displayed ;  where 
the  spirit  of  benevolence  comes  out  in  the  full  strength 
of  its  benign  attractions ;  where  publick  opinion  most  ef- 
fectually brands  the  guilty  even  though  he  may  escape 
the  jail  or  the  gallows : — I  ask  you,  is  it  not  in  those 
countries  where  the  Reformed  religion  prevails  in  its 
greatest  purity  ?  Is  it  not  in  our  own  land,  and  the  land 
of  our  fathers'  sepulchres  ? 

I  am  aware  that  the  statement  which  I  have  made 
may  appear  to  some  to  need  qualification,  on  account  of 
certain  acknowledged  cruelties  in  which  Protestants  of 
former  ages  have  been  concerned.  I  am  asked — and  it 
is  a  question  which  has  been  stereotyped  for  the  last  two 
centuries — whether  Calvin  did  not  consent  to  the  doom 
of  the  unhappy  Servetus  ?  I  am  asked  again,  whether 
the  garments  of  Protestant  Britain  have  not  been  stained 
with  blood  ?    And  yet  again,  whether  the  Fathers  of 


240  PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 

New  England, — the  very  men  whose  memories  we  che- 
rish most  gratefully — did  not  evince  towards  some  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends  a  spirit  of  bitter  persecu- 
tion? To  all  these  inquiries  I  unhesitatingly  answer, 
Yes ;  and  pronounce  the  conduct  in  each  case  as  utterly 
at  war,  not  only  with  the  precepts  of  religion,  but  with 
the  spirit  of  humanity.  But  you  cannot  reflect  a  mo- 
ment without  perceiving  that,  though  these  were  the  do^ 
ings  of  Protestants,  yet  the  Romish  church  fairly  comes 
in  for  a  share  in  the  guilt.  For  who  enacted  the  bloody 
law  under  which  Servetus  suffered  ?  The  Romanists. 
Who  enacted  the  intolerant  laws  of  England  which  took 
effect  in  the  wanton  murder  of  many  of  her  worthiest 
sons  ?  They  were  enacted  indeed  by  royal  authority, 
but  that  authority  was  under  the  controul  of  the  Romish 
church.  And  how  came  our  New  England  Fathers  to 
evince  toward  the  (Quakers  a  persecuting  spirit,  when 
they  had  themselves  just  fled  before  the  hand  of  perse- 
cution ?  It  was  because  the  spirit  of  Romanism  hngered 
after  its  institutions  had  passed  away :  it  had  so  incor- 
porated itself  with  the  character  of  the  age  that  it  was 
not  strange  that  these  great  and  good  men  should  have 
been  in  a  measure  imbued  with  it ; — nay,  it  would  have 
been  an  anomaly  in  human  experience,  if  it  had  been 
otherwise ; — if  even  their  own  sufferings  had  altogether 
purified  them  from  the  same  spirit  by  which  their  suffer- 
ings had  been  inflicted. 

I  say  then,  the  Romish  church  is  actually  responsible, 
in  a  great  measure,  for  the  persecutions  in  which  Pro- 
testants have  been  engaged.  And  she  still  manifests  a 
persecuting  spirit  as  she  has  opportunity:  indeed  she  is 
obliged  by  her  very  canons  to  do  so ;  and  she  cannot  re- 
peal one  of  her  cruel  edicts,  or  repent  of  one  of  her  cruel 
deeds,  but  she  yields  up  her  infaUibihty,  and  with  it  her 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  241 

very  existence.  Protestant  Christianity  knows  no  doc- 
trines or  precepts  which  tend  to  foster  this  unhallowed 
spirit;  and  if  a  Protestant  actually  indulges  it,  he  makes 
war  upon  all  the  principles  of  his  own  system.  There 
is  no  branch  of  the  Reformed  church  now  that  engages 
to  any  considerable  extent  in  persecution ;  and  the  bloody 
scenes  of  former  days  are  remembered  only  with  repro- 
bation  and  horrour. 

I  have  now  finished  the  contrast  which  I  proposed  be- 
tween Protestant  Christianity  and  Romanism :  but  I  can- 
not dismiss  the  subject  without  asking  your  attention  to 
two  or  three  remarks  which  the  view  we  have  taken  of 
it  obviously  suggests. 

1.  The  first  is  that  Romanism  is,  in  many  respects^ 
closely  allied  to  Paganism, 

This  remark  applies  equally  to  the  general  constitution 
and  tendencies  of  the  system,  and  to  its  more  particular 
ceremonies  and  doctrines.  If  Paganism  appeals  chiefly 
to  the  imagination  and  the  senses,  and  has  little  to  do 
with  the  understanding  and  the  heart,  who  can  resist 
the  impression  that  Romanism  partakes  in  no  small  de- 
gree of  the  same  character  ?  If  Paganism  is  essentially 
a  system  of  superstition,  and  recognises  idolatry  as  one 
of  its  primary  elements,  what  think  you  of  Romanism, 
in  view  of  the  homage  which  it  enjoins  to  saints,  images 
and  relicks  of  the  dead  ?  If  the  streets  of  Pagan  Rome 
were  illuminated  at  night  by  the  burning  of  the  early 
Christians,  the  dungeons  of  Papal  Rome  have  resounded 
night  and  day  with  the  groans  of  later  Christians,  while 
the  engines  of  torture  have  been  kept  in  constant  and 
horrible  operation.  And  to  be  more  particular  I  may 
ask,  whence  was  derived  the  custom  ordained  by  Gregory 
VII.  of  kissing  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  but  from  the  Pagans 
who  kissed  the  feet  of  their  emperors  ?     Whence  came 

21 


242 


PROTESTANT   CHRISTIANITY 


\ 


the  practice  of  the  priests  shaving  their  heads,  and  tak- 
ing the  form  of  a  crown,  but  from  the  priests  of  ancient 
Egypt?  On  what  else  are  the  present  nunneries  found- 
ed, but  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Vestal  Yirgins?  What  is 
the  holy  water  of  the  Romish  church,  but  an  imitation 
of  the  lustral  water  of  the  Pagans  ?  Whence  came  the 
Romish  purgatory,  and  penance,  and  canonization  of 
saints,  and  processions,  and  pilgrimages,  but  from  heathen 
sources  ?  Indeed  I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  scarcely 
a  peculiarity  of  Romanism  but  had  its  origin,  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  in  Pagan  superstition.  Some  of  the 
Romish  churches  in  Europe  were  originally  heathen  tem- 
ples ;  and,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  some  of  the  carved 
emblems  which  were  used  in  the  Pagan  worship,  are 
used  at  this  day  in  the  Romish  service. 

No  fact  is  better  established  than  that  Christianity,  at 
her  first  introduction,  was  at  war  with  Paganism ;  that 
she  would  not  consent  on  any  ground  to  hold  the  least 
communion  with  it : — what  then  are  we  to  think  of  a 
system  which,  under  the  name  of  Christianity,  bears  so 
much  of  a  Pagan  character  ?  I  propound  it  as  a  serious 
question  to  every  one  who  has  intelligently  and  impar- 
tially examined  this  subject,  whether  the  Romish  system, 
as  it  now  exists  in  the  authorized  canons  of  the  church, 
bears  a  stronger  resemblance  to  the  systems  of  ancient 
Paganism,  or  to  the  system  which  is  inculcated  in  the 
New  Testament? 

2.  Another  obvious  inference  from  this  subject  is,  that 
Romanism  is  the  sworn  enemy  of  Freedom, 

In  the  Pope  she  recognises  a  supreme  earthly  poten- 
tate, in  whose  hands  all  power  on  earth,  and  I  had  al- 
most said  in  Heaven  too,  is  vested.  He  is  styled  by  Ro- 
mish writers,  "the  infallible  one;"  "another  God  on 
earth;"  "the  Lord  our  God  the  Pope;"  and  Clement 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  243 

VII.  and  his  cardinals,  in  their  letter  to  Charles  YI.  say, 
"  As  there  is  only  one  God  in  Heaven,  so  there  cannot 
and  ought  not  to  be,  but  one  God  on  earth."  And  in 
full  accordance  with  these  arrogant  assumptions,  the 
Pope  has  claimed,  and  in  numerous  instances,  exercised, 
the  prerogative  of  vacating  thrones  by  a  word,  and 
thrusting  kings  into  obscurity.  He  professes  to  hold  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  to  open  the  gates 
to  none  but  those  who  die  in  the  Holy  Catholic  church ; 
and  hence  the  bull  of  Pius  Y.  against  the  Q.ueen  of 
England  was  entitled  "  The  Damnation  of  dueen  Eli- 
zabeth." Let  those  be  inquired  of  who  have  travelled 
in  Papal  countries  even  now,  since  the  arm  of  Romish 
power  is,  in  a  great  degree,  withered,  and  they  will  testi- 
fy that  they  have  mingled  with  an  enslaved  population ; 
that  there  is  a  system  of  oppression  there  which  reaches 
not  only  to  the  body  but  to  the  mind ;  and  that  they  are 
convinced,  if  men  bear  it  patiently,  it  is  either  because 
they  dare  not  rebel,  or  because  they  have  been  so  tho- 
roughly trained  to  a  habit  of  servitude,  that  there  is  an 
utter  extinction  of  all  the  native  lofty  tendencies  of  the 
soul :  And  they  will  tell  you  that  while  they  have  been 
sojourners  in  those  countries,  they  have  longed  to  breathe 
the  fresh  air  of  freedom ;  and  that  when  they  came  back 
to  their  native  land,  they  trod  the  earth  with  a  freer  step, 
they  gazed  upon  the  skies  with  a  sublimer  pleasure,  the 
foliage  seemed  more  verdant,  and  the  air  more  fragrant, 
and  all  nature  more  beautiful,  because  every  thing  around 
them  proclaimed  that  they  were  in  a  land  of  liberty. 

You  may  ask  perhaps  whether  the  hberties  of  this 
country  are  likely  to  be  endangered  by  the  influence  of 
Romanism.  I  answer  the  question  only  by  repeating 
what  I  have  already  said,  that  Romanism  is  essentially 
and  theoretically  a  system  of  slavery;  and  every  Ro- 


244  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

manist  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  if  he  understands  his 
own  system,  acknowledges  a  power  which  may  absolve 
him  from  every  obligation  to  yield  obedience  to  civil 
rulers.  That  the  predominance  of  such  a  system  must 
be  fatal  to  the  liberties  of  any  country,  no  one  can  doubt; 
but  whether  or  not  there  is  danger  that  this  will  ever  be 
reaUzed  here,  I  will  not  take  it  upon  myself  to  judge. 

3.  It  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  Ro- 
manism puts  at  fearful  hazard  manHs  immortal  in- 
terests. 

I  here  assume  the  fact  that  it  is  the  true  gospel,  and 
that  alone,  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation ; 
and  that  whatever  obstructs  or  counteracts  its  influence, 
must,  in,  the  same  proportion,  jeopard  the  souls  of  men. 
But  have  we  not  seen  that  Romanism  in  various  ways 
actually  produces  this  effect?  While  therefore  I  would 
not  intimate  a  doubt  that  the  Romish  church  may  in- 
clude many  who  will  be  saved,  I  cannot  resist  the  convic- 
tion that  they  will  be  saved  so  as  by  fire.  When  I  con- 
template the  great  mass  of  them  sunk  in  ignorance  and 
superstition,  scarcely  knowing  more  of  the  gospel  than 
the  inhabitants  of  Hindoostan,  and  apparently  substitu- 
ting a  round  of  senseless  ceremonies  for  an  intelligent  and 
living  faith,  much  as  I  may  wish  to  believe  that  they 
are  in  the  way  to  Heaven,  T  cannot  believe  it  so  long  as 
I  hold  to  the  Bible.  I  deplore  the  condition  to  which 
multitudes  of  them  are  subjected  in  the  present  life;  but 
I  contemplate  with  incomparably  deeper  anxiety  their 
prospects  in  reference  to  the  world  to  come. 

There  is  another  view  to  be  taken  of  this  point: — Ro- 
manism, as  we  have  seen,  has  much  in  it  to  foster  the 
evil  propensities  of  the  heart ; — it  not  only  tolerates  sin 
but  encourages  it;  it  not  only  wipes  off  the  guilt  of  past 
offences  for  money,  but  it  secures  the  privilege  of  coni« 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ROMANISM.  246 

mitting  future  sins,  provided  money  enough  can  be  fur- 
nished to  pay  for  it.  But  what  is  it  but  sin  unrepented 
of  by  man,  and  unforgiven  by  God,  which  destroys  the 
soul  ?  And  what  is  the  doctrine  of  penance,  and  the 
doctrine  of  absolution,  but  the  merest  mockery  ?  Ro- 
manism then  endangers  the  soul,  as  it  encourages  and 
fosters  that  which  alone  causes  the  soul's  destruction. 

Yet  another  view : — This  system  tends  directly  to  in- 
fidelity. Its  doctrines  are  too  gross  for  a  cultivated  intel- 
lect to  digest ;  its  practices  too  absurd  for  reflecting  men 
to  adopt.  Let  the  mind  become  enlightened,  and  it  will 
not  be  likely  to  receive  the  dogmas  of  any  church  with- 
out examination :  it  will  require  evidence  for  whatever 
is  proposed  as  a  matter  of  faith.  Just  then  imagine  the 
condition  of  an  intelligent  Romanist  who,  from  his  gene- 
ral habits  of  thought  and  investigation,  directs  his  atten- 
tion towards  Christianity  as  it  is  presented  in  the  canons 
of  his  own  church :  at  once  its  absurdities  glare  upon 
him,  and  his  Reason  instantly  rejects  them.  But  in  re- 
jecting them,  he  gives  up  the  only  form  of  Christianity 
which  perhaps  has  come  under  his  observation;  and 
though,  from  considerations  of  policy,  he  may  not  choose 
openly  to  avow  his  defection  from  the  church,  yet  he  re- 
mains in  it  not  as  a  papist  but  as  an  infidel.  This  was 
just  the  experience  of  Blanco  White  as  related  by  him- 
self; and  that,  notwithstanding  he  was  a  Romish  priest; 
and  those  who  have  been  famihar  with  the  more  intelli- 
gent class  of  Romanists  in  Europe,  have  unhesitatingly  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  far  the  greater  part  of  them  have 
no  behef  in  Revelation.  Surely  then,  if  Romanism  mi- 
nisters to  the  cause  of  infidehty,  it  puts  in  jeopardy  the 
souls  of  men ;  for  Jesus  himself  has  declared  that  "  he 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
21* 


246  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

4.  Our  subject  suggests  the  jjroper  mode  of  encoun- 
tering the  Romish  religion. 

It  is  not  by  burning  down  their  convents,  nor  by  as- 
sailing them  with  abusive  epithets,  nor  by  attempting  to 
rob  them  of  any  of  their  legitimate  privileges  ;  but  it  is 
by  subjecting  their  system  to  scriptural  and  reasonable 
tests,  and  diffusing  correct  information  in  regard  to  its 
tendencies  and  results.  I  would  be  an  advocate  for  their 
having  the  same  civil  rights  which  I  myself  enjoy ;  and 
in  all  the  intercourse  of  hfe  would  know  nothing  else 
toward  them  than  Christian  kindness  and  courtesy ;  but 
I  would  not  let  my  kindness  and  courtesy  carry  me  so 
far  as  to  lead  me  virtually  to  connive  at  their  errours: 
while  yet  I  would  endeavour  to  expose  them  only  by 
means  of  truth  and  argument.  These  are  the  only 
weapons  with  which  I  would  encounter  them,  save  the 
still  mightier  weapon  of  prayer;  and  on  this  last  I 
should  chiefly  rely,  because  hereby  faith  wields  the  ener- 
gies of  Omnipotence.  I  know  how  many  obstacles  there 
are  in  the  way  of  their  being  approached ;  nevertheless  I 
would  say,  give  them  light  to  the  extent  of  your  ability, 
and  in  proportion  as  you  do  this,  you  are  likely  to  work  a 
cure  for  their  errours.  Much  has  been  apprehended  from 
the  prevalence  of  Romanism  in  our  great  Western  world: 
And  here  again,  I  w^ould  say,  endeavour  to  counteract 
their  influence  only  by  the  diffusion  of  light ; — the  light 
of  science  and  learning, — the  light  of  genuine  Chris- 
tianity,  Romanism,  as  we  have  seen,  has  its  appropri- 
ate element  in  intellectual  darkness:  if  the  darkness  be 
continued,  it  will  live ;  if  it  be  dissipated,  it  will  die. 

You  will  greatly  misapprehend  me,  my  friends,  if  you 
imagine  that  the  design  of  this  discourse  has  been  to  ex- 
cite in  you  any  hostility  tow^ards  that  portion  of  our  com- 
munity, whose  religious  system  I  have  felt  myself  called 


CONTRASTED    WITH     ROMANISM.  247 

upon  to  expose.  Such  a  wish  on  my  part  would  be 
every  way  inconsistent  with  the  benevolence  of  the  gos- 
pel. I  regard  them  as  proper  objects  of  our  compassion 
and  our  prayers ;  and  I  would  exhort  you  all  to  admin- 
ister to  their  wants  with  the  same  open  hand  as  if  they 
had  cordially  embraced  our  own  faith  ;  for  the  true  spirit 
of  Protestant  Christianity  will  justify  nothing  else. — 
When  you  remember  that  they  were  born  in  the  Ro- 
mish church,  that,  by  the  circumstances  of  their  edu- 
cation, they  have  been  shut  out  from  the  light  of  truth 
almost  as  much  as  if  their  lot  had  been  cast  in  a  Pagan 
land,  that  all  the  strength  and  sacredness  of  early  asso- 
ciations are  in  favour  of  the  system  which  they  hold,  and 
that  they  have  been  steadily  trained  to  the  belief  that 
there  is  no  salvation  out  of  the  Romish  communion  ; — 
can  you  wonder  at  their  bigoted  adherence  to  their  own 
doctrines  ?  Had  you  and  I  been  born  and  educated  in 
similar  circumstances,  is  there  not  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  we  should  have  been  like  them?  Instead, 
therefore,  of  reproaching  them  with  their  errours,  or  irri- 
tating them  by  severe  denunciations,  let  us  endeavour,  in 
all  respects,  to  do  them  good  as  we  have  opportunity ; 
not  forgetting  to  propound  to  our  own  consciences  the 
question,  "AVho  hath  made  thee  to  differ?'" 

5.  Let  not  Christianity  he  held  7'esponsible  for  the 
lives  of  her  professors. 

Who  that  has  been  conversant  with  the  objections  of 
infidels  against  our  blessed  Religion,  does  not  know  with 
how  much  triumph  they  have  appealed  to  the  history  of 
Christianity  for  evidence  that  it  does  not  make  men  the 
better ;  and  after  having  drawn  a  picture,— if  you  please, 
a  faithful  picture, — of  the  Christian  church  during  much 
the  larger  part  of  the  period  of  her  past  existence ;— after 
having  exhibited  the  various  forms  of  ignorance  and  su- 


248  PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 

perstition,  of  debasement  and  crime,  with  which  she  is 
justly  chargeable,  they  have  looked  at  the  result  of  their 
efforts  with  the  most  self-complacent  exultation,  as  if  the 
Bible  were  fairly  proved  to  be  nothing  better  than  a  book 
of  fables.  But  if  they  will  turn  off  their  eyes  from  the  his- 
tory of  the  church,  and  let  them  rest  awhile  on  this  very 
Bible  which  they  condemn,  they  will  see  that  the  pre- 
cepts and  doctrines  of  the  latter  are  utterly  at  war  with 
the  offensive  dogmas  and  practices  of  the  former ;  and 
that  it  is  the  height  of  injustice  to  Christianity  to  attempt 
to  identify  them.  We  admit  that  age  after  age  passed 
away,  and  the  church  was  not  only  overspread  with 
thick  darkness,  but  was  the  scene  of  abominations  upon 
which  the  imagination  scarcely  dares  to  Hnger;  but  dur- 
ing that  whole  period  the  Christian  Religion,  as  it  ex- 
isted in  the  Bible,  and  as  it  existed  in  i\^e  hearts  and 
lives  of  the  faithful,  had  in  it  the  elements  of  grace,  and 
purity  and  wisdom ;  and  so  far  as  its  voice  could  be 
heard,  protested  against  the  absurdities  and  enormities 
which  were  prevailing  under  the  sanction  of  the  Chris- 
tian name.  I  say  then,  the  infidel  is  flagrantly  unjust 
in  charging  these  evils  to  the  account  of  Christianity: 
she  is  not  responsible  for  them  in  any  other  way  than  as 
a  good  man  is  responsible  for  another's  crime,  against 
which  he  had  most  solemnly  and  earnestly  remonstrated. 
And  the  spirit  to  which  I  have  here  adverted  is  not 
confined  to  professed  infidels;  nor  is  it  brought  into  ex- 
ercise merely  by  contemplating  the  history  of  the  Romish 
church.  There  has  always  been  much — there  is  much 
at  this  day — in  the  Protestant  church,  and  that  whether 
you  view  things  on  a  more  extended  or  a  more  limited 
scale,  which  is  at  war  both  with  the  precepts  and  spirit 
of  true  Christianity.  Not  only  individual  professors  of 
rehgion  prove  themselves  gross  hypocrites  by  shamelessly 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ROMANISM.  249 

violating  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  while  yet  they 
make  high  pretensions  to  living  under  its  power,  but 
practices  sometimes  creep  into  the  church  and  become 
extensively  prevalent,  which  will  not  bear  for  a  moment 
to  be  referred  to  the  scriptural  standard.  Do  you  who 
are  men  of  the  world  ask  me  where  you  shall  look  for 
an  illustration  of  Christianity  but  to  the  lives  of  its  pro- 
fessors? I  will  tell  you:— look  at  the  character  of  its 
glorious  Founder; — look  into  the  record  of  his  hfe,  and 
of  his  Religion  as  he  has  given  it  to  the  world ;— and  see 
if  there  be  any  thing  there  which  your  judgment  does 
not  fully  approve.  Or  if  you  mitst  look  at  its  professors, 
be  candid  enough  to  contemplate  the  characters  of  those 
who  in  some  good  degree  walk  in  the  steps  of  Him 
whom  they  acknowledge  as  their  Lord.  I  repeat,  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Bible  is  one  thing,  Christianity  in  the 
church  has  too  often  been  quite  another ;  and  if,  in  the 
spirit  of  a  caviller,  you  identify  the  two,  take  heed  lest 
you  do  it  at  the  peril  of  your  soul. 

5.  Let  the  ckiirch  he  admonished  i7i  respect  to  the 
danger  of  an  ever  restless  sjyirit  of  innovation. 

In  contemplating  the  history  of  Romanism  we  have 
seen  that  it  had  a  small  beginning:  it  originated  in  the 
slightest  defection  from  apostolick  faith  and  practice;  and 
for  a  time  there  seems  to  have  been  no  intention  to  de- 
part materially  from  the  scriptural  standard;  but  the 
waves  of  innovation  rose  higher,  and  became  stronger, 
and  succeeded  each  other  with  increasing  rapidity,  until 
the  glorious  truths  and  institutions  of  the  gospel  were 
well  nigh  submerged  in  a  common  ruin.  Behold  Chris- 
tianity as  she  was  in  the  apostolick  age,  and  then  view 
her  as  she  was  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries ;  and 
in  the  process  by  which  this  change  has  been  effected 
you  have  a  fair  illustration  of  the  gradual  and  insidious 


250 


PROTESTANT    CHRISTIANITY 


and  disastrous  mannerj  in  which  an  innovating  spirit 
operates. 

Now  then  let  not  the  church,  or  any  portion  of  the 
church,  shut  her  ears  upon  the  lessons  of  the  past.  The 
absurdities  and  errours  which  we  have  been  contempla 
ting  are  so  many  beacons  to  w^arn  us  against  a  depar- 
ture from  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ.  In  respect 
both  to  the  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the  gospel,  there 
is  a  monitory  voice  from  the  past,  saying  "  Touch  them 
not ;"  and  if  we  refuse  to  obey  this  mandate,  we  not 
only  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  language  of  Providence,  but 
trifle  with  the  authority  of  Zion's  King.  Do  you  say, 
"Let  me  modify  God's  truth  or  God's  ordinances  a  little, 
that  I  may  accommodate  the  one  or  the  other  more  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  times?"  How  do  you  know  but 
that,  in  doing  so,  you  may  be  laying  a  foundation  on 
which  there  shall  arise  a  superstructure  of  impiety  or  in- 
fidehty  that  shall  tower  into  the  clouds  as  a  beacon  to 
coming  generations  ?  How  do  you  know  but  that  those 
who  come  after  you  will  have  occasion  to  point  to  what 
you  are  doing,  as  the  lifting  up  of  the  floodgates  of  deso- 
lating fanaticism  or  fatal  errour  ?  How  do  you  know  but 
that  He  who  hath  sent  his  angel  to  testify  to  the  church- 
es, may  punish  your  rash  invasion  of  his  authority,  by 
taking  away  your  part  out  of  the  Book  of  Life  and  out 
of  the  Holy  City? 


LECTURE  VI. 


EVANGELICAL  CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH 
UNITARIANISM. 


I.  Timothy  in.  16. 

God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh, 

IN  CONNEXION  WITfi 

11.  Peter  ii.  1. 

Denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them. 

Paul,  in  the  former  of  these  passages,  brings  out  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner  the  doctrines  of  the  deity  and 
incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ;— doctrines  which  may  fair- 
ly be  considered  as  constituting  the  basis  of  the  whole 
system  of  evangeUcal  truth.  Peter,  in  the  latter  passage, 
is  warning  the  Christians  to  whom  he  writes  against  the 
influence  of  certain  false  teachers  whom  he  describes  as 
"bringing  in  damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord 
that  bought  them,"'  or  rejecting  the  great  doctrine  of  Re- 
demption through  the  blood  of  Christ,  The  two  pas- 
sages taken  together,  therefore,  may  fairly  be  considered 
as  suggesting  the  contrast  hetwen  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity and  Unitarianism  ; — the  subject  which,  in  this 
course  of  lectures,  next  claims  our  attention. 


252  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

By  Evangelical  Christianity  you  will  understand 
me  to  mean  that  system,  the  leading  doctrines  of  which 
are,  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  the  deity  and  atone- 
ment of  Jesus  Christ,  justification  by  faith  in  the  merits 
of  his  blood,  and  the  necessity  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influ- 
ence to  regenerate  and  sanctify  the  heart.  There  are 
other  doctrines  in  respect  to  which  Christians  who,  in 
the  main,  may  be  considered  evangelical,  differ;  but  the 
rejection  of  either  of  those  just  mentioned  is  a  virtual  re- 
jection of  the  system  to  which  it  belongs. 

By  Unitarianism  I  mean  that  system  which,  in  its 
leading  features,  is  directly  the  opposite  of  the  one  just 
referred  to; — which  maintains  that  the  moral  nature  of 
man  has  sustained  no  shock  by  the  original  apostacy, 
but  retains  all  its  primeval  purity ;  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
a  mere  man,  or  at  most  only  a  superangelical  being; 
that  his  death  was  chiefly  that  of  a  martyr,  not  that  of 
an  atoning  Saviour;  that  we  are  justified  by  our  own 
personal  righteousness,  not  by  the  righteousness  of  the 
Lord  Jesus;  and  that  we  are  not  dependant  on  any  spe- 
cial divine  influence  for  a  spiritual  renovation.  I  am 
aw^are  that  among  those  who  have  called  themselves 
Unitarians  there  have  been  some  who  have  professed,  in 
some  sense,  to  receive  the  doctiine  of  atonement ;  but 
while  I  would  cheerfully  concede  to  such  whatever  of 
truth  they  really  hold,  without  even  stopping  to  inquire 
at  present  in  respect  to  its  consistency  with  other  parts 
of  their  system,  I  cannot  forbear  to  remark  that,  so  far 
as  my  observation  has  extended,  they  have  generally  at- 
tached but  little  importance  to  the  doctrine,  and  have  by 
no  means  considered  the  rejection  of  it  as  implying  even 
a  very  serious  defect  in  Christian  character.  If  1  do  not 
greatly  mistake,  the  class  of  Unitarians  who  embrace 
this  doctrine  in  any  sense,  at  this  day,  is  small ; — so 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  253 

small  as  na^.to  demand  any  distinct  consideration  in 
this  discourse.  The  same  remark  may  apply  to  some 
other  of  the  evangelical  doctrines :  some  Unitarians  have 
claimed,  and  for  aught  I  know,  still  claim,  to  hold  them 
in  a  modified  form ;  but  the  number  is  too  inconsidera- 
ble to  constitute  any  ground  for  a  formal  exception. 

It  may  not  improbably  strike  some  minds  that  both 
the  terms  by  which  I  have  chosen  to  designate  these 
systems  are  objectionable.  It  may  be  said  on  the  one 
hand  that  the  very  term  Evangelical  Christianity 
seems  to  take  for  granted  that  the  system  to  which  it  is 
applied  is  the  true  system  ;  in  other  words,  that  which 
is  taught  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  on  the  other  hand 
that,  in  according  to  the  opposite  system  the  name  Uni- 
tarianisniy  we  seem  virtually  to  acknowledge  ourselves 
Tritheists  ;  as  if  we  were  not  also  believers  in  one  only 
living  and  true  God.  But  I  cannot  conceive  that  in 
either  case  the  objection  is  valid.  In  appropriating  the 
term  Evangelical  Christianity^  we  only  mean  to  de- 
signate the  system  which  we  firmly  beheve  the  gospel 
contains  :  in  conceding  the  use  of  the  term  Unitarian- 
ism,  we  only  allow  to  men  their  own  way  of  expressing 
their  belief  that  God  exists  in  one  person  only,  in  op- 
position to  ours  that  he  exists  in  three.  I  would  not  say 
that  names  are  of  no  importance ;  or  that  they  are  not 
sometimes  worth  contending  for ;  but  in  the  present 
case  I  can  perceive  no  unfairness  in  claiming  the  one,  no 
unworthy  concession  in  yielding  the  other. 

With  this  general  explanation  of  the  two  systems,  we 
will  proceed  to  contrast  them  in  respect  to 

L  Their  accordance  with  the  obvious  inter- 
pretation OF  THE  Bible  : 


S© 


254  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

II.  The    HOMAGE    "WHICH    THEY   PAY   X%    THE    AU- 

THORITY OF  Scripture  : 

III.  The  NUMBER  AND    IMPORTANCE    OF  THEIR   PE- 

CULIAR DOCTRINES  I 

IV.  Their  adaptation  to  pacify  a  guilty  con- 

science: 

V.  Their  tendency  to  produce  and  cherish 

the  Christian  virtues. 

I.  In  respect  to  their  accordance  with  the  ob- 
vious interpretation  of  the  Bible. 

1.  I  refer,  first,  to  the  doctrines  which  the  two  systems 
inculcate  concerning  the  person  a?id  character  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Unitarianism  maintains  that  he  is  a  mere  crea- 
ture ;  possessing  either  a  superangelical  nature  or  sim- 
ple humanity.  Evangelical  Christianity  maintains  that 
he  is  truly  and  properly  God,  and  truly  and  properly 
man ;  and  that,  in  this  double  nature,  he  sustains  the 
mediatorial  office.  Our  inquiry  is,  which  of  these  two 
doctrines  is  most  in  agreement  with  the  obvious  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture. 

It  must  have  occurred  to  every  reflecting  reader  of  the 
Bible  that  the  person  and  character  of  Christ  are  de- 
scribed by  three  different  classes  of  passages,  each  of 
which  differs  materially  from  the  others.  That  we  may 
the  more  easily  test  the  doctrines  under  consideration,  I 
will  select  a  few  passages  belonging  to  each  class. 

Of  the  first  class  I  mention  the  following  : 

''  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were  made  by 
him,  and  without  him  was  not  any  thing  made  that 
was  made."  "  And  thou  Lord,  in  the  beginning,  hast 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  parth ;  and  the  heavens  are 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  255 

the  works  of  thy  hands :  they  shall  perish,  but  thou  re- 
mainest ;  and  they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment ; 
and  as  a  vesture  shalt  thou  fold  them  up  and  they  shall 
be  changed :  but  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall 
not  fail."  "  Whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom  as 
concerning  the  flesh  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all  God 
blessed  forever."  "  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God 
is  come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding  that  we 
may  know  Him  that  is  true  ;  and  we  are  in  Him  that 
is  true  even  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true 
God  and  eternal  life."  "  And  Jesus  seeing  their  faith, 
said  unto  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  son,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy 
sins  be  forgiven  thee."  "  And  I  give  unto  them  eternal 
life."  "  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead  and 
quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he 
will."  "  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done 
in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it 
be  good  or  bad."  "  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  to- 
gether in  ray  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  "  I 
am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  ending, 
saith  the  Lord  ;  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is 
to  come,  the  Almighty."  "  And  all  the  churches  shall 
know  that  I  am  He,  which  searcheth  the  reins  and 
hearts ;  and  I  will  give  unto  every  one  of  you  accord- 
ing to  his  works."  "  Every  creature  which  is  in  Hea- 
ven, and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as 
are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying, 
Blessing,  honour,  glory  and  power,  be  unto  Him  that  sit- 
teth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  forever  and 
ever."  "  And  they  stoned  Stephen  invoking  (as  the  lite- 
ral translation  is,)  and  saying,  Lord  Jesus  receive  my 
spirit !" 


256  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

Of  the  second  class  of  passages  the  following  are  a 
specimen : — 

—  "  But  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon 
him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  hkeness 
of  men  :  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  hum- 
bled himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross."  "  Forasmuch  then  as  the  children 
are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  like- 
wise took  part  of  the  same."  "  He  took  not  on  him  the 
nature  of  angels,  but  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham." "  Wherefore,  in  all  things,  it  behooved  him  to  be 
made  hke  to  his  brethren." 

Of  the  third  class  it  may  suffice  to  mention  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them  saying.  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  Heaven  and  in  earth."  "For 
as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  so  hath  he  given  ta 
the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself;  and  hath  given  him 
authority  to  execute  judgment  also,  because  he  is  the 
Son  of  man."  "  Then  cometh  the  end  when  he  shall 
have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God  even  the  Father*, 
when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority 
and  power.  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  ene- 
mies under  his  feet."  "  According  to  the  working  of  his 
mighty  power  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own  right 
hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principahty, 
and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name 
that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that 
which  is  to  come,  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet; 
and  gave  him  to  be  the  Head  over  all  things  to  the 
Church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that  M- 
eth  all  in  all."  "  Being  made  so  much  better  than  the 
angels  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more  excel- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  257 

lent  name  than  they."  "Who  is  gone  into  Heaven,  and 
is  on  the  right  hand  of  God  ;  angels,  and  authorities  and 
powers  being  made  subject  unto  him." 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  all  that  the  Bible  contains  in 
respect  to  the  person  and  character  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  passages  which  1  have  quoted,  constitute, 
indeed,  but  a  small  portion  of  what  has  been  revealed  on 
this  subject;  but  they  may  fairly  be  considered  as  a 
specimen  of  the  whole ;  and  I  may  safely  say  there  is 
no  passage  but  admits  of  being  easily  and  naturally  re- 
ferred to  some  one  of  these  classes.  By  this  exhibition 
of  scripture  testimony,  let  us  now  test  the  doctrines  un- 
der consideration. 

How  will  the  Unitarian  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
a  mere  man^  who  had  no  existence  till  he  was  born  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  stand  this  test  ? 

It  behooves  the  advocates  of  this  theory  to  show  its 
consistency  with  the  whole  of  the  first  class  of  passages 
that  have  been  quoted,  to  say  nothing  of  several  of  the 
last ;  and  whether  this  is  an  easy  matter  a  moment's 
reflection  will  enable  you  to  judge. 

You  believe  in  the  simple  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  you  profess  to  find  this  doctrine  in  the  Bible.  But 
in  the  Bible,  as  we  have  seen,  he  is  called  God,  again 
and  again,  and  in  the  most  unqualified  terms :  He  is  re- 
presented as  "over  all  God  blessed  forever;"  as  "the 
true  God  and  eternal  life;"  as  "the  Almighty;"  as  hav- 
ing "laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth;"  as  saying  to  the 
sick  of  the  palsy,  "  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee  ;"  as  dis- 
pensing "  eternal  hfe ;"  as  "  quickening  whom  he  will;" 
as  occupying  the  "judgment  seat"  at  the  last  day  ;  as 
being  present  "  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  his  name;"  as  "  searching  the  reins  and  the  hearts," 
and  as  receiving  the  homage  of  "  every  creature."  Now, 
22* 


258  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

in  order  to  establish  your  doctrine  from  the  Bible,  you 
have  to  reconcile  it  with  all  these  singular  declarations ; 
in  other  words,  to  show  that  when  the  Scripture  declares 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  God  without  the  least  qualification, 
when  it  ascribes  to  him  the  perfections,  the  works,  the 
worship,  which  belong  to  God  only,  it  means  after  all 
that  he  is  a  mere  man,  possessing  no  higher  nature  than 
that  which  belongs  to  every  human  being. 

If  this  is  a  difficult  task,  let  us  see  whether  it  is  a  less 
difficult  one  to  deduce  from  the  Scripture  the  doctrine 
held  by  another  class  of  Unitarians, — that  Jesus  Christ 
is  a  superangelical  being — something  more  than  man 
and  something  less  than  God. 

Upon  this  supposition  you  have  to  encounter  the  same 
difficulty  in  respect  to  the  first  class  of  passages  with 
those  who  maintain  the  simple  humanity  of  Christ ;  for, 
though  your  theory  exalts  him  above  humanity,  and 
even  places  him  at  the  head  of  the  creation,  yet  between 
him  and  the  Supreme  God  it  leaves  the  w^hole  distance 
between  finite  and  infinite :  of  course  not  one  of  those 
passages  which  represent  him  as  God  can  be  legitimate- 
ly applied  to  the  support  of  your  doctrine.  But  you  are 
equally  opposed  by  the  second  class  of  passages, — those 
which  represent  him  as  truly  and  properly  a  man ;  for 
your  scheme  denies  ahke  his  deity  and  his  humanity. 
If  you  will  have  it  that  he  is  not  a  man,  you  must  show 
why  inspiration  in  various  instances  has  called  him  so ; 
has  ascribed  to  him  all  the  attributes  of  a  man,  has  re- 
presented him  as  having  been  born,  as  having  lived,  and 
laboured,  and  suffered,  and  died,  like  a  man.  Both  these 
classes  of  passages  then  in  their  obvious  meaning,  seem 
to  be  opposed  to  your  doctrine ;  and  before  you  can  even 
neutralize  their  testimony  in  favour  of  an  opposite  doc- 
trine, you  must  subject  them  to  the  torture. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  259 

Now  let  us  bring  to  the  same  test  the  evangeUcal  doc- 
trine ; — viz,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  truly  and  projjerly 
Godj  and  tridy  and  properly  man  ;  and  that  he  sus- 
tains an  official  character  as  Mediator  in  which  he  is 
subordinate  to  the  Father. 

This  doctrine,  you  at  once  perceive,  harmonizes  the 
whole  Scripture.  Is  Jesus  Christ  represented  in  the  first 
class  of  passages  which  have  been  quoted  as  possessing 
a  divine  nature  ?  This  doctrine  acknowledges  him  as 
God,  in  the  fullest  sense.  Is  he  represented  in  the  second 
class  of  passages  as  possessed  of  human  nature  ?  This 
doctrine  recognises  him  as  truly  and  properly  a  man. 
Is  he  represented  in  the  third  class  of  passages  as  subordi- 
nate to  the  Father,  and  acting  by  authority  received  from 
him?  This  doctrine  attributes  to  him  a  mediatorial 
character,  in  which  his  subordination  to  the  Father  is 
acknowledged.  In  short,  there  is  not  a  passage  in  Scrip- 
ture relating  to  the  person  or  character  of  Christ,  which 
is  not  susceptible  of  being  easily  harmonized  with  this 
scheme ;  while,  upon  either  of  the  Unitarian  theories, 
there  is  a  large  portion  of  Scripture,  which,  upon  any 
just  principles  of  interpretation,  is,  to  say  the  least,  quite 
inexplicable. 

2.  Let  the  same  test  be  applied  to  the  doctrines  which 
Unitarianism  and  Evangelical  Christianity  respectively 
inculcate  in  regard  to  the  design  of  the  death  of  Christ: 
the  former  regarding  his  death  merely  as  an  example  of 
pious  submission,  or  as  a  seal  to  the  truth  of  his  testimo- 
ny ;  the  latter,  chiefly  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  men. 

All  that  is  held  by  Unitarians  in  respect  to  the  design 
of  Christ's  death,  viz.  that  he  died  to  teach  his  followers 
how  to  die,  and  to  enable  him  to  authenticate  his  divine 
mission  by  rising  from  the  dead,  Evangelical  Christians 


260  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

also  admit :  the  only  point  of  difference  between  them 
isj  whether,  in  addition  to  these  ends,  there  was  yet  a 
higher  end  accomphshed  by  his  death, — the  purchase  of 
man's  redemption.  Hear  what  the  Scripture  saith  on 
this  subject,  and  then  judge. 

The  prophet  Isaiah,  ages  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
recorded  the  following  description  of  the  design  of  his 
sufferings  : — "  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our 
Borrows.  But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;  the  chastisement  of 
our  peace  was  upon  him ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
healed.  The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us 
all;  for  the  transgression  of  my  people  was  he  stricken. 
By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  justify 
many :  When  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for 
sin :  For  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities.  And  he  bare  the 
sin  of  many."  In  full  accordance  with  this  prophetical 
testimony,  is  the  language  of  the  Saviour  himself,  and 
of  the  various  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  "  Even 
the  Son  of  man,"  saith  Christ,  "came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  And  again,  in  the  institution  of  the  ordinance 
of  the  Supper,  he  says  in  reference  to  the  cup, — "  This 
is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament  which  is  shed  for 
many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  And  then  if  we  turn  tp 
the  record  of  the  Apostles,  we  find  them  saying,  "  Christ 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us."  "  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through 
his;  blood."  "  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his 
own  body  on  the  tree ;  that  we  being  dead  to  sin  should 
live  unto  righteousness :  by  whose  stripes  ye  were  heal- 
ed." "  When  he  had  by  himself  purged  our  sins." — 
"  Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood."  "  Un- 
to him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  om'  sins  in  his 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  261 

own  blood  J  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto 
God"— 

I  ask  now,  whether  the  Evangelical  or  Unitarian  doc- 
trine in  respect  to  Christ's  death,  seems  to  you  to  be 
taught  in  these  passages  1  If  it  were  the  design  of  in- 
spiration to  teach  that  no  higher  ends  were  accompUsh- 
ed  by  the  death  of  Christ  than  are  recognised  by  the 
Unitarian  scheme,  I  submit  it  to  you  whether  it  is  not 
passing  strange  that  such  expressions  should  have  been 
used  as  those  which  I  have  just  recited.  On  the  con- 
trary, if  God  had  designed  to  reveal  to  us  the  doctrine 
that  the  death  of  Christ  was  a  propitiatory  sacrifice, — the 
ground  of  our  pardon,  the  price  of  our  redemption, — can 
you  conceive  of  any  language  which  could  have  been 
more  appropriate  or  more  explicit  than  that  which  the 
inspired  writers  have  actually  employed  ? 

I  might  mention  also  that  the  whole  sacrificial  econo- 
my as  it  is  exhibited  in  the  Old  Testament  becomes 
strangely  unaccountable  on  the  supposition  that  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ  were  not  of  a  vicarious  nature  ;  while 
its  fitness  and  significance  are  at  once  manifest,  if  we 
connect  with  his  death  the  idea  of  an  atonement.  Is  it 
not  strange  that  the  slaying  of  animals  in  sacrifice 
should  ever  have  been  prescribed  by  divine  authority,  if 
it  had  not  been  designed  to  prefigure  the  death  of  Christ? 
And  would  even  the  death  of  Christ  have  imparted  any 
great  significance  to  such  an  institution,  or  have  probably 
laid  the  foundation  for  its  existence,  if  it  had  contempla- 
ted no  higher  end  than  the  sealing  of  his  testimony  with 
liis  blood?  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  Christ  died  to  make 
reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people, — to  put  away 
sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  the  whole  system  of  sacri- 
fices gathers  an  unspeakable  interest ;  it  becomes  typical 
of  the  grandest  event  which  the  universe  ever  witnessed; 


262  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

a  mighty  link  in  that  chain  of  dispensations  which  is  to 
terminate  in  the  redemption  of  the  world.  I  repeat  then, 
on  the  principles  of  Unitarianism,  the  sacrificial  system, 
as  it  existed  under  the  ancient  dispensation,  was  an 
enigma  which  has  never  yet  been  explained ;  and  I  may 
add,  the  noble  argument  on  this  subject  which  consti- 
tutes the  substance  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  has 
neither  force  nor  meaning :  on  the  principles  of  Evan- 
gehcal  Christianity,  it  becomes  level  to  the  comprehen- 
sion of  a  child,  while  yet,  in  its  connexions  and  bearings, 
it  is  worthy  to  occupy  the  intellect  of  an  angel. 

I  proceed  to  the  next  point  of  contrast  between  the 
two  systems, — viz. 

II.  The  homage  which  they  respectively  ren- 
der TO  the  authority  of  Scripture. 

1.  Unitarianism  asserts  that  a  jpart  only  of  the 
Bible  is  given  by  i?ispiratio?i :  Evangelical  Christiani- 
ty attributes  inspiration  to  the  whole. 

I  am  aware  that  those  who  hold  the  Unitarian  system 
are  not  exactly  agreed  as  to  what  portions  of  the  Bible 
the  high  attribute  of  inspiration  shall  be  ascribed,  though 
I  beheve  the  exceptions,  where  particular  exceptions  are 
made,  will  generally  be  found  to  respect  those  parts 
which  are  usually  regarded  as  the  main  pillars  of  the 
Evangelical  system ;  and  which  of  course  it  is  most  need- 
ful to  dispose  of  in  order  to  sustain  the  claims  of  the  op- 
posite system.  Most  Unitarians,  if  I  mistake  not,  dis- 
card, either  formally  or  virtually,  much  the  greater  part 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Hence  a  late  popular  writer  says, 
"  The  rejection  of  the  Old  Testament  will  relieve  many 
from  perplexing  doubts  relative  to  the  divine  attributes, 
which  have  appeared  to  them  so  contradictory  and  un- 
certain ;  while  others  will  be  reclaimed  from  skepticism 
who  have  been  made  to  think  that  there  is  the  same 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  263 

Authority  for  believing  in  the  Old  Testament  as  in  the 
New.  By  rejecting  those  parts  of  the  former  which  are 
so  unsuitable  and  discordant  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
with  all  those  degrading  and  unworthy  representations 
of  the  high  and  lofty  One  who  inhabiteth  eternity,  it 
will  brighten  and  make  clear  the  path  which  has  so 
long  been  encumbered  with  thorns."  Some  Unitarians, 
though  they  may  allow  the  doctrinal  and  devotional 
parts  of  Scripture  to  be  given  by  inspiration,  deny  this 
in  respect  to  the  historical  parts : — Thus  a  writer  in  the 
Monthly  Repository  says,  "The  historical  books  of  Scrip- 
ture are  to  be  considered  merely  as  human  testimony,  and 
as  depending  for  the  whole  of  their  authority  on  the  high 
credibility  which  we  justly  ascribe  to  them  from  the  approv- 
ed sanctity  and  veracity  of  the  writers."  In  favour  of  this 
opinion  are  urged  "  the  contradictions  which  not  unfre- 
quently  occur."  Some  maintain  that  while  the  Apostles 
were  inspired  in  respect  to  the  doctrines  which  they  de- 
livered, yet,  in  their  reasonings  in  support  of  those  doc- 
trines, they  are  to  be  regarded  as  fallible.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  statement  Doctor  Ware  says,  "  We  must 
distinguish  between  the  doctrines  delivered  by  the  Apos- 
tles and  primitive  teachers,  and  the  arguments,  illustra- 
trations  and  topicks  of  persuasion,  which  they  employed 
to  enforce  them.  The  former  we  are  to  consider  as  giv- 
en them  by  inspiration :  the  latter  were  the  suggestions 
of  their  own  minds,  in  the  exercise  of  their  respective 
talents,  and  the  kinds  and  degrees  of  knowledge  they 
possessed."  Not  only  the  record  of  particular  facts,  but 
considerable  portions  of  books,  and  even  entire  books, 
are  rejected  by  leading  Unitarian  writers  as  having  no 
claim  to  inspiration.  Thus  Wakefield  says,  "  I  believe 
no  more  than  Thomas  Paine,  that  the  sun  and  moon, 
either  in  the  apparent  or  philosophical  acceptation  of  the 


264  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

phrase,  actually  stood  still  at  the  command  of  Joshua.^ 
In  speaking  of  those  portions  of  the  evangelical  history 
which  record  the  miraculous  conception  of  Jesus,  the 
editors  of  the  Improved  Version  of  the  New  Testament 
say,  "  This  account  was  probably  the  fiction  of  some 
early  Gentile  convert,  who  hoped,  by  elevating  the  dig- 
nity of  his  founder,  to  abate  popular  prejudice  against 
his  sect."     Le  Clerc  says  in  his  work  on  inspiration, 
"  There  is  no  proof  that  what  is  contained  in  the  Pro- 
verbs was  inspired  to  Solomon.     There  are  many  of 
them  that  are  but  vulgar  Proverbs."     And  in  respect  to 
the  Book  of  Job  he  adds,  that  "there  was  no  inspiration 
in  this  book  more  than  in  the  three  foregoing."     A  wri- 
ter in  the  Christian  Examiner,  one  of  the  most  able  and 
popular  of  the  Unitarian  periodicals,  speaking  of  the  au- 
thor of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  says,  "  His  reason- 
ing cannot  be  regarded  as  of  any  force  by  any  intelli- 
gent reader  of  the  present  day.     It  is  difficult  so  far  to 
accommodate  our  minds  to  the  conceptions  and  princi- 
ples of  the  author  and  his  contemporaries,  as  to  perceive 
how  it  was  adapted  to  produce  any  effect  at  the  time 
when  it  was  written."     Such  are  the  opinions  which 
have  been  expressed  on  this  subject  by  Unitarian  wri- 
ters of  high  respectabihty ;  and  though  each  writer  is  to 
be  understood  as  stating  his  own  views  rather  than  giv- 
ing the  creed  of  his  denomination,  yet  I  am  not  aware, 
nor  have  I  reason  to  believe,  that  there  is  any  thing  in- 
cluded in  the  preceding  statements  from  which  the  Uni- 
tarians as  a  body  would  be  disposed  to  dissent. 

In  opposition  to  this  view  of  Scripture,  Evangehcal 
Christianity  maintains  that  all  the  books  which  the 
Protestant  church  has  usually  regarded  as  inspired  are 
really  so ;  that  the  Old  Testament  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion as  truly  as  the  New  ;  and  every  part  of  each  book 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  265 

as  truly  as  any  part.  And  in  support  of  this  position 
she  alleges  that  the  Scripture  itself  is  entirely  silent  in 
respect  to  any  distinction  between  its  different  parts ;  or 
rather  it  positively  asserts  the  inspiration  of  the  whole. 
She  alleges  farther  that  the  opposite  theory  represents 
our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  as  having  testified  without 
any  hmitation  or  exception  to  the  divine  authority  of 
certain  books  in  the  Old  Testament,  when  parts  of  those 
booksj  and  in  some  instances  much  the  larger  parts, 
were  mere  human  compositions.  If  it  be  true  that  there 
is  in  the  Bible  this  mixing  up  of  divine  and  human  wis- 
dom, who  will  take  it  upon  himself  to  separate  the  chaff 
from  the  wheat ; — to  decide  where  the  writers  have 
spoken  from  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  and  where 
from  the  dictates  of  their  own  feeble  and  fallible  under- 
standings ?  If  we  refer  this  question  for  decision  to  Uni- 
tarians themselves,  they  have  no  fixed  standard  by 
which  to  judge  in  respect  to  it ;  other  than  that  nothing 
can  be  admitted  as  of  divine  authority  which  militates 
against  the  doctrines  of  their  own  system.  The  truth 
is,  that  this  view  of  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  is  scarce- 
ly at  all  to  be  preferred  to  a  denial  of  it  altogether  ;  for, 
even  admitting  that  it  were  possible  for  a  highly  culti- 
vated intellect  accurately  to  discriminate  between  the 
precious  and  the  vile,  yet  all  must  admit  that  the  great 
mass  of  people  are  utterly  incompetent  to  this :  and  yet 
the  Bible  is  equally  designed  for  all ;  and  all  are  alike 
interested  in  knowing  what  portions  of  it  are  to  be  taken 
as  dictated  by  a  God  of  truth  and  wisdom,  t  say  then 
unhesitatingly,  if  this  notion  of  inspiration  be  true,  I  can- 
not see  why  the  Bible  should  be  regarded  as  a  gift  of 
any  great  value  to  the  world ;  for  if  it  contains  some 
things  that  are  from  above,  they  are  so  blended  with 
other  things  that  are  from  beneath,  that  no  one  can  be 

23 


266 


EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


assured  that,  after  having  done  his  utmost  to  discrimi- 
nate between  them,  he  may  not  fall  into  the  most  dan- 
gerous, not  to  say  fatal,  errours. 

2.  Unitarianism  attributes  to  the  writers  of  the 
Scriptures  a  loio  degree  of  inspiration  where  it  ad- 
mits it  at  all:  EvangeUcal  Christianity  ascribes  to 
them  a  plenary  inspiration. 

It  is  not  easy,  I  acknowledge,  to  determine  exactly  in 
what  sense  Unitarians  admit  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible 
in  any  case ;  but  if  the  testimony  of  some  of  their  stan- 
dard writers  is  to  be  taken,  we  must  conclude  that  it 
can  be  in  no  very  high  sense.  Most  of  them  speak 
on  this  subject  with  a  degree  of  laxness  which  shows 
that  their  views  are  extremely  indefinite,  and  which 
is  adapted  to  lead  to  any  other  result  than  a  settled 
conviction  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures ; 
while  some  have  hazarded  assertions  which  unequivo- 
cally place  the  Bible  on  no  better  footing,  as  it  respects 
inspiration,  than  any  other  book.  Agreeably  to  this 
statement.  Doctor  Priestley  writes  thus  : — "  The  Scrip- 
tures were  written  without  any  particular  inspiration,  by 
men  who  wrote  according  to  the  best  of  their  know- 
ledge, and  who,  from  circumstances,  could  not  be  mis- 
taken with  respect  to  the  greater  facts  of  which  they 
were  proper  witnesses ;  but  (like  other  men  subject  to 
prejudice)  might  be  hable  to  adopt  a  hasty  and  ill- 
grounded  opinion  concerning  things  which  did  not  fall 
within  the  compass  of  their  own  knowledge."  And 
again, — "  Neither  I,  nor,  I  presume,  yourself,  believe  im- 
pUcitly  every  thing  that  is  advanced  by  any  writer  in  the 
Old  or  New  Testament."  And  Mr.  Belsham  thus  : — 
"  The  Scriptures  contain  a  very  faithful  and  credible 
account  of  the  scripture  doctrine,  which  is  the  true  word 
of  God ;  but  they  are  not  themselves  the  word  of  God ; 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  267 

nor  do  they  ever  assume  that  title  ;  and  it  is  highly  im- 
proper to  speak  of  them  as  such  ;  as  it  leads  inattentive 
readers  to  suppose  that  they  are  written  under  a  plenary 
inspiration,  to  which  they  make  no  pretensions."  The 
following  is  from  a  writer  in  the  Christian  Examiner : — 
"These  books,  it  is  true  (the  canonical  books  of  the 
New  Testament,)  are  not  a  revelation.  They  are 
nothing  more  than  the  best  records  which  remain  to  us 
of  the  Revelation  which  God  made  by  Jesus  Christ. — 
This  Revelation — it  is  a  truth  which  we  wish  more 
widely  and  better  understood — is  not  to  be  identified 
with  the  canonical  books  of  the  New  Testament.  Let 
us  suppose  a  philosopher  of  a  mind  as  enlarged  as  that 
of  Cicero,  and  of  as  high  and  pure  moral  sentiments,  to 
have  become  convinced,  during  the  apostolick  age,  that 
Christ  was  a  messenger  from  God,  and  to  have  carefully 
collected  and  committed  to  writing  all  the  information 
which  could  then  be  procured  concerning  his  character, 
miracles  and  doctrines,  and  to  have  subjoined  his  own 
explanations  and  remarks.  Let  us,  at  the  same  time, 
suppose  him  neither  called  to  be  an  Apostle,  nor  having 
his  mind  miraculously  illuminated,  but  left  by  God  to 
the  exercise  of  those  natural  powers  which  he  had  origi- 
nally bestowed  upon  him.  The  work  of  such  a  wri- 
ter would,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  have  been  at  least  of 
equal  value  with  any  book  which  remains  to  us ;  though 
it  must  have  been  altogether  different  from  any  book  of 
the  New  Testament."  Need  I  say  that  between  such 
opinions  as  these,  and  those  w^iich  have  been  held  on 
the  same  subject  by  sober  Deists,  there  is  no  difference 
that  is  entitled  to  consideration? 

I  do  not  say  that  there  is  an  entire  harmony  of  opi- 
nion in  respect  to  every  thing  comprehended  under  the 
general  subject  of  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  among 


268  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

Evangelical  Christians :  nevertheless  they  agree,  so  far 
as  my  knowledge  extends,  in  attributing  to  the  sacred 
writers  all  the  inspiration  that  was  necessary  to  preserve 
them  from  all  errour,  to  guide  them  into  all  truth,  and 
to  enable  them  to  convey  their  ideas  in  a  manner  best 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  a  divine  revelation.  They 
do  not  suppose  that  inspiration  superseded  the  ordinary 
and  legitimate  use  of  the  faculties ;  but  that,  under  the 
supernatural  guidance  and  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  faculties  performed  their  office  in  such  a  way  as  to 
secure  to  the  world  a  faithful  record  of  God's  will,  just 
as  truly  as  if  God  himself  had  written  it  down  without 
the  intervention  of  any  human  agency.  This  view  of 
inspiration,  you  will  readily  perceive,  is  adapted  to  pro- 
duce an  entire  confidence  in  the  Bible ;  for  if  I  believe 
that  all  which  it  contains  has  been  revealed  by  the  Spi- 
rit of  all  Wisdom,  and  recorded  under  the  supervision 
and  guidance  of  the  same  infallible  Power,  can  1  resist 
the  conviction  that  every  thing  that  I  find  in  it  is  cer- 
tainly true  ?  Can  I  entertain  a  doubt  in  respect  to  my 
obligation  to  believe  its  doctrines  and  obey  its  precepts, 
without  exception  and  without  hesitation?  The  Uni- 
tarian theory  in  respect  to  this  subject  would  seem  to 
excuse  me  from  giving  my  assent  to  much  that  I  find 
in  the  Bible ;  and  would  at  least  suggest  an  apology  for 
any  doubts  I  might  have  in  regard  to  its  general  au- 
thenticity ;  but  our  view  of  inspiration  binds  me  to  be- 
lieve,— hinds  me  to  obey ;  and  I  cannot  refuse  to  do 
either,  but  at  the  expense  of  making  God  a  liar  on  the 
one  hand,  or  a  hard  master  on  the  other. 

3.  In  accordance  with  the  preceding  views,  Unitari- 
anism  appeals  to  Reason  as  the  ultimate  standard 
of  truth  ;  Evangelical  Christianity,  to  the  Bible. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  269 

You  cannot,  I  think,  have  been  conversant  with  the 
writings  of  Unitarians  without  having  been  struck  with 
the  fact  that  their  grand  objections  to  the  EvangeUcal 
doctrines  are  built,  not  so  much  on  a  supposed  contrariety 
to  Scripture  as  to  Reason.  Wherefore,  for  instance,  do 
they  object  to  the  doctrine  of  the  complex  nature  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  or  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  ?  Because 
they  cannot  conceive  how  the  divine  and  human  na- 
tures can  be  united  in  one  person;  or  how  three  persons 
can  be  united  in  one  God.  On  what  ground  do  they 
reject  the  doctrine  of  atonement  ?  On  the  ground  that 
it  seems  to  them  a  reflection  upon  the  character  of  God 
to  suppose  that  he  could  not  forgive  sin  without  some 
satisfaction  to  his  offended  justice.  I  do  not  say  that 
they  let  the  Scriptures  entirely  alone  in  their  attempts  to 
disprove  the  Evangehcal  doctrines  ;  but  I  confess  it  has 
appeared  to  me  that  the  manner  in  which  they  approach 
them  betrays  a  conviction  that  they  are  about  to  examine 
a  witness  which  would  never  have  been  called  up  but  at 
the  instance  of  the  adverse  party  ;  and  that  what  they 
have  to  do,  is,  not  so  much  to  obtain  a  positive  testimony 
in  their  favour,  as  to  neutralize,  if  possible,  the  testimony 
which  is  rendered  against  them.  I  cannot  suppose  it 
possible  that  any  person  of  intelligence  and  candour 
ever  sat  down  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  with  a  determi- 
nation to  find  out  for  himself  what  it  contains,  and  then 
to  make  no  appeal  from  its  decisions,  who,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  such  an  examination,  embraced  a  system 
which  recognises  the  mere  humanity,  and  rejects  the 
atonement,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Every  thing 
proves  that  they  who  arrive  at  such  a  result,  come  to  it 
by  a  different  way:  they  decide  beforehand  what  is, 
and  what  is  not,  consistent  for  God  to  reveal ;  and  then 
dispose  of  the  scripture  testimony  as  well  as  they  can. 
23* 


270  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

I  hardly  need  tell  you  that  Evangelical  Christianity, 
having  settled  the  question  of  the  divine  authority  of  the 
Scriptures,  regards  their  decision  on  every  point  as  ulti- 
mate. She  asks  no  better  reason  for  believing  any  doc- 
trine than  that  she  finds  it  revealed  in  the  Bible ;  and 
though  it  may  involve  things  too  subhme  for  the  hu- 
man faculties  to  reach,  or  too  deep  for  them  to  fathom, 
she  pauses  not  a  moment  to  decide  whether  she  shall 
receive  it.  Read  any  of  the  standard  evangelical  wri- 
ters on  Theology,  and  you  can  hardly  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  fact  that  the  main  proofs  of  the  doctrines 
which  they  inculcate  are  drawn  from  the  Bible;  that 
they  usually  apply  the  Scriptures  in  their  most  obvious 
and  familiar  sense  ;  and  that,  after  having  proved  their 
divine  inspiration,  the  only  province  they  assign  to  Rea- 
son, is  to  ascertain  their  legitimate  meaning.  In  this 
case  you  perceive  Reason  simply  determines  what  God 
hath  said,  while  faith  receives  it  with  simphcity  and  hu- 
mility: whereas,  in  the  former  case,  Reason  pre-deter- 
mines  what  God  ought  to  say,  and  unbelief  rejects  what- 
ever is  found  to  be  inconsistent  with  this  pre-determina- 
tion. 

Our  next  point  of  contrast  between  these  systems 
respects, 

III.  The  number  and  importance  of  their  pe- 
culiar DOCTRINES. 
Christianity  claims  to  be,  in  the  most  important  sense, 
a  distinct  system.  I  do  not  say  that  it  claims  to  be  in 
all  respects  distinct  from  Natural  Religion  ;  for  the  lead- 
ing truths  of  Natural  Religion,  especially  those  which 
relate  to  the  existence  and  character  of  God,  it  takes  for 
granted ;  otherwise  there  could  be  no  proof  of  its  truth  or 
divinity.  Nor  do  I  mean  to  divorce  Christianity  from  that 
system  which  was  inculcated  under  the  Jewish  dispen- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  271 

sation  ;  but  rather  to  consider  the  latter  as  included  in 
the  former  ;  both  having  in  view  the  same  great  end. 
and  both  being  sustained  by  the  same  divine  authority. 
What  I  intend  is,  that  the  Religion  of  the  Bible  in  its 
largest  sense  claims  a  distinctive  character :  it  professes 
to  be  infinitely  unlike,  infinitely  al)ove,  every  other  sys- 
tem ;  as  well  in  the  happiness  which  it  secures  to  man, 
as  in  the  glory  which  it  brings  to  God. 

If  this  claim  which  Christianity  makes  as  a  distinct 
system  can  be  sustained,  (and  if  it  cannot,  it  must  surely 
relinquish  all  pretensions  to  a  divine  origin,)  we  natu- 
rally expect  to  find  that  it  has  some  great  and  glorious 
peculiarities ; —that  its  leading  doctrines  are  altogether 
beyond  the  reach  of  unassisted  Reason.  Now  I  under- 
take to  say  that,  if  genuine  Christianity  be  found  in  the 
Unitarian  system,  this  expectation  is  not  met :  if  it  be 
found  in  the  Evangelical  system,  it  is  met  in  a  manner 
the  most  satisfactory.  Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the 
two  systems,  and  see  whether  this  is  a  rash  or  unwar- 
rantable conclusion. 

You  will  not  understand  me  as  saying  that  there  is 
nothing  in  Unitarianism  to  distinguish  it  from  Natural 
Religion.  I  am  well  aware  that  it  admits  in  some  gene- 
ral sense  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  it  re- 
cognises the  fact  of  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and 
his  ascension  to  Heaven,  and  perhaps  his  intercession 
for  his  followers.  But  beyond  this  I  am  not  aware  that 
Unitarianism  pretends  to  any  distinctive  character.  It 
does  indeed  include  other  doctrines ;  but  they  belong  to  it 
in  common  with  another  system  which  openly  denies  the 
authority  of  the  Bible.  It  admits,  for  instance,  that  man 
is  an  imperfect, — if  you  please,  a  sinful  being:  so  also 
does  Deism.  It  maintains  that  it  is  the  duty  of  man  to 
worship  and  obey  God.  and  do  good  to  his  fellow  man : 


272  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

SO  also  does  Deism.  It  recognises  the  truth  that  God 
has  some  general  superintendance  of  the  works  of  his 
hands :  so  also  does  Deism.  And  finally  it  asserts  that 
God  is  mercifulj  and  will  pardon  sin  upon  repentance, 
irrespective  of  an  atonement:  in  this  respect  also  it  entirely 
harmonizes  with  Deism.  Now  I  maintain  that,  except  so 
far  as  Unitarianism  is  a  system  of  mere  negations,  these 
latter  doctrines  are  all  that  it  regards  as  fundamental ; 
or  if  there  are  others,  they  resolve  themselves  at  once 
into  the  principles  of  Natural  Religion.  Hence,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  you  will  find  that  no  small  part  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Unitarians  would  be  entirely  acceptable  to  a  sober 
Deist.  So  also  their  prayers  are  sometimes  framed  in 
such  a  manner  as  not  even  to  recognise  the  existence  of 
Christianity ;  and  are  such  as  might  have  been  consis- 
tently offered  by  man  in  his  unfallen  state ; — I  had  al- 
most said,  by  a  pure  angel  at  the  foot  of  the  throne. 

It  may  perhaps  occur  to  some  that  I  have  allowed  to 
Unitarianism  too  little  that  is  peculiar  to  Christianity, 
inasmuch  as  I  have  not  considered  as  part  of  the  system 
the  doctrines  of  a  resurrection  and  final  judgment  in  the 
sense  in  which  they  are  generally  held  by  Evangelical 
Christians.  I  vindicate  myself  from  any  unfairness 
here,  by  reading  to  you  one  or  two  brief  extracts  from 
Unitarian  publications  of  high  authority.  One  of  the 
most  distinguished  champions  of  Unitarianism  in  this 
country  holds  the  following  language : — "The  resurrec- 
tion which  Paul  preached  had  no  concern  with  the 
flesh  and  blood  that  compose  the  body  while  we  Uve. 
And  it  will  probably  be  found  that  our  Lord  himself,  al- 
though in  speaking  either  to  the  Pharisees,  who  held  to 
the  resurrection  of  the  body, — a  doctrine  which  was 
taught  by  Zoroaster  to  the  Chaldeans,  and  had  been 
brought  from  Chaldea  by  the  Jews,  on  their  return  from 


CONTRASTED    WITH     UNITARIANISM.  273 

their  captivity, — or  to  the  Sadducees  who  denied  that 
doctrine,  he  sometimes  appears  to  accommodate  his  lan- 
guage to  the  previously  existing  opinions  of  the  age, — 
never  yet  taught  the  resurrection  of  the  body  as  a  doc- 
trine of  his  own ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  when  speak- 
ing as  he  often  spoke,  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  he 
meant  the  survivorship  of  the  spirit."  Again,  in  the 
Christian  Examiner  it  is  thus  written  : — "  I  do  not  be- 
lieve there  ever  will  be  any  general  judgment.  The  as- 
sembled universe,  so  often  spoken  of,  as  gathered  at  once 
before  the  throne  of  God,  to  be  reciprocally  spectators  of 
each  others'  trial  and  judgment,  is,  I  believe,  a  mere 
coinage  of  the  human  brain.  Certainly  the  Scriptures 
assert  no  such  thing."  "  The  last  day  therefore  spoken 
of  in  the  Scriptures,  we  conceive  to  be  the  last  day  of 
each  individual's  mortal  hfe."  And  thus  in  the  Unita- 
rian Advocate : — "  We  are  told  that  Christ  will  judge 
the  world."  ''  We  are  not  to  presume,  however,  that  he 
will  do  it  in  person  ;  but  only  that  the  world  will  be 
judged  by  the  principles  which  he  has  set  forth  in  the 
gospel."  I  do  not  say  that  all  Unitarians  would  concur 
in  these  views  ;  but  I  take  for  granted  the  mass  of  them 
do,  from  finding  them  thus  expHcitly  stated  in  some  of 
their  standard  publications ;  and  in  view  of  these  state- 
ments I  leave  you  to  define,  as  well  as  you  can,  the 
boundary  between  Unitarianism  and  Deism. 

But  while  Unitarianism  differs  from  Deism  in  only  a 
few  points,  and  those  comparatively  unimportant,  Evan- 
geUcal  Christianity  is  altogether  another  system.  If  we 
are  asked  to  state  its  peculiarities  in  a  single  word,  we 
say  that  they  consist  in  the  doctrine  of  the  sinner's  jus- 
tification by  faith  in  the  atonement  of  a  divine  Saviour, 
and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  sinner's  regeneration  and 
sanctification  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.    In 


274 


EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANtTY 


these  two  great  truths  considered  in  their  legitimate  con- 
nexions and  bearings,  is  bound  up  the  whole  Evangeli- 
cal system  ;  and  who  does  not  perceive  at  once  that 
they  constitute  it  essentially  different  from  any  other 
system?  Hence  you  find  that  these  doctrines  give  a 
distinct  complexion  to  the  preaching,  the  writings,  the 
prayers,  the  conversation,  of  those  who  embrace  them. 
K  a  minister  is  truly  evangelical  in  his  views,  you  can- 
not listen  to  his  sermons,  and  especially  to  his  prayers, 
but  you  will  see  at  once  that  they  constantly  recognise 
principles  which  every  Deist  rejects;  and  these  are  the 
very  principles  which  distinguish  the  Evangehcal  sys- 
tem from  Unitarianism.  Ask  the  most  illiterate  Evan- 
gehcal Christian  for  his  view^s  of  Christianity,  and  he 
will  tell  you  in  his  own  way,  of  the  deep  and  desperate 
depravity  of  the  human  heart  as  laying  a  foundation  for 
the  necessity  of  a  divine  interposition  ;  of  the  atoning 
death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  adapted  to  meet  the 
mighty  exigency  in  man's  condition  ;  of  justification  by 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  and  sanctification  by  his 
Spirit,  and  of  all  the  blessings  of  a  complete  redemption, 
as  the  result  of  his  mediatorial  work.  It  is  manifest 
tliat  between  his  creed  and  the  creed  of  the  Deist  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed ;  that  the  one  could  never  be  mis- 
taken for  the  other  any  more  than  darkness  could  be 
mistaken  for  light :  and  hence,  while  the  Deist  has  little 
fault  to  find  with  Unitarianism,  and  compliments  it  as 
being  closely  aUied  to  his  own  system,  he  rejects  Evan- 
gehcal Christianity  with  scorn,  as  being  utterly  at  war 
with  the  dictates  of  enhghtened  Reason. 

It  deserves  here  to  be  remarked  that,  while  the  Evan- 
gelical system  is  strongly  marked  by  its  own  peculiari- 
ties, so  that  no  one  can,  with  the  semblance  of  plausi- 
bility, confound  it  with  any  other  system,  it  is  charac- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  275 

terized  also  by  the  utmost  symmetry  and  completeness. 
Take  away  for  instance  the  Evangelical  doctrine  of 
human  depravity,  and  the  whole  system  falls  to  the 
ground  ;  for  any  other  view  of  human  nature  renders 
the  mediatorial  work  of  Christ  a  superfluous  provision. 
Take  away  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  and  you 
leave  a  chasm  in  the  system  which  makes  all  that  re- 
mains of  no  ultimate  value  to  the  sinner.  Take  away 
the  doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity,  and  you  disqualify  him 
for  the  great  work  for  which  he  came  into  the  world, — 
that  of  expiating  the  sins  of  men.  Take  away  the  doc- 
trine of  regeneration  by  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  you  virtually  nuUify  the  sacrifice  of  Christ; 
for  if  man  is  not  renewed,  even  the  blood  of  Christ  can- 
not justify  him.  Indeed  there  is  perfect  harmony  through- 
out the  whole  system ;  nothing  confused,  nothing  want- 
ing, nothing  superfluous.  Leave  every  thing  as  it  is, 
and  you  have  a  system  of  doctrine  worthy,  in  this  re- 
spect, to  be  the  product  of  heavenly  wisdom  ;  but  take 
away  any  one  of  the  truths  to  which  I  have  adverted, 
and  what  remains  becomes  at  once  anomalous  and  un- 
satisfactory. 

Has  not  enough  been  said  to  justify  the  conclusion 
that  Unitarianism  has  scarcely  any  thing  to  distinguish 
it  from  Deism;  that  Evangelical  Christianity  is  alto- 
gether a  distinct  system?  If  then  Christianity,  as  it  is 
exhibited  in  the  Bible,  claims  to  possess  a  distinctive 
character,  by  suspending  everlasting  life  on  the  fact  of 
its  being  cordially  received,  does  not  this  amount  to  evi- 
dence that  Evangelical  Christianity,  and  not  Unitarian- 
ism, is  the  system  taught  in  the  Bible  ? 

We  are  to  contrast  the  two  systems, 


276  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

IV.    In  THEIR  ADAPTATION  TO  PACIFY  A  GUILTY 
CONSCIENCE. 

1.  Unitaiianism  simj)ly  maintains  the  fact  that 
God  forgives  the  simier :  Evangelical  Christianity 
takes  a  view  of  the  method  by  which  forgiveness  is 
bestowed. 

Ask  the  Unitarian  what  is  the  ground  of  his  rehance 
for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  and  he  will  tell  you  that 
it  is  the  general  mercy  of  God.  Press  him  with  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  this  exercise  of  divine  mercy,  grow- 
ing out  of  the  relation  which  God  sustains  to  him  as  a 
righteous  Lawgiver,  and  he  disposes  of  them,  just  as  the 
Deist  does,  by  eulogizing  his  paternal  character.  Press 
him  with  the  consideration  that  the  Bible  in  various  parts 
seems  to  connect  the  sinner's  forgiveness  with  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ,  and  he  either  treats  it  as  mysticism, 
or  finds  a  mode  of  explaining  it,  which  throws  him 
back,  after  all,  upon  the  same  foundation.  It  is  not  un- 
common to  hear  individuals  of  this  class  declare,  in  so 
many  words,  that  they  desire  no  better  ground  for  the 
hope  of  Heaven  than  the  general  mercy  of  God ;  and 
that  it  is  enough  for  them  to  know  that  God  forgives  sin, 
without  troubling  themselves  with  any  ulterior  inquiries. 

Ask  the  Evangelical  Christian,  on  the  other  hand, 
wherefore  it  is  that  he  trusts  in  God  for  pardon,  and  he 
will  tell  you  that  it  is  not  only  because  God  has  reveal- 
ed himself  as  "forgiving  iniquity,  transgression  and  sin," 
but  especially  because  he  has  revealed  himself  as  "  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  not  imputing 
unto  men  their  trespasses."  He  recognises  indeed  in 
this  dispensation  an  unfathomable  depth  of  mystery;  it 
is  easy  for  him  to  raise  inquiries  respecting  it  which  no 
man,  probably  no  angel,  would  be  able  to  answer;  never- 
theless, the  great  outline  of  the  wonderful  scheme  be  is 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANlSM.  277 

permitted  to  understand ;  in  Christ  as  an  atoning  sacri- 
fice he  contemplates  the  only  medium  through  which 
pardon  can  be  bestowed ;  and  as  his  mind  fastens  in  de- 
vout meditation  upon  the  dying  Lamb  of  God,  the  plan 
by  which  forgiveness  is  secured  to  him  unfolds  more  and 
more,  till  he  is  enraptured  with  its  harmony,  its  grandeur, 
its  perfection. 

I  ask  now  whether  Evangelical  Christianity  is  not  far 
better  adapted  than  Unitarianism  to  bring  peace  to  the 
guilty  conscience,  if  we  only  consider  the  fact  that  the 
former  exceeds  the  latter  in  the  extent  of  its  discoveries? 
Be  it  so  that  Unitarianism  assures  the  sinner  that  there 
is  forgiveness  with  God,  and  that  the  sinner  admits  it ; — 
yet,  do  you  believe  it  possible  that  he  should  receive  this 
insulated  truth  with  the  same  deep  and  unwavering  con- 
viction, as  if  it  were  accompanied  by  a  view  of  the  plan 
by  which  forgiveness  is  secured  to  him ;  especially  if  that 
plan  embraces  much  which  is  adapted  to  make  a  strong 
appeal  both  to  the  understanding  and  the  heart  ?  In 
other  words,  if  I  believe  the  simple  fact  that  God  extends 
pardon  to  sinners  without  knowing  any  thing  of  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  done,  and  this  belief  brings  a  de- 
gree of  peace  to  my  conscience,  will  not  my  conviction 
of  this  fact  become  stronger  and  more  practical,  if  I  can 
have  the  mystery  of  redemption  somewhat  explained  to 
me ;  and  will  not  the  degree  of  peace  that  is  secured  to 
my  conscience  be  increased  in  proportion  not  only  to  the 
strength  of  my  belief  that  God  pardons  the  guilty,  but 
also  to  the  extent  of  my  discoveries  in  regard  to  the  chan- 
nel through  which  this  blessing  is  communicated  ? 

2.  Unitarianism  maintains  the  doctrine  of  forgive- 
ness^ apparently  at  leasts  at  the  expense  of  the  cha- 
racter and  government  of  God:  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity supplies  a  security  for  both, 

24 


27B  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

No  one  can  deny  that  one  of  the  characters  in  which 
God  has  revealed  himself  to  man  is  that  of  a  Lawgiver. 
And  the  law  which  he  has  given  requires  perfect  obedi- 
ence, and  threatens  everlasting  death  as  the  penalty  of 
transgression.  Man  has  transgressed  the  law ;  and  the 
next  thing  in  order,  it  should  seem,  must  be  the  execu- 
tion of  the  penalty;  for  there  is  the  same  reason  for  main- 
taining the  law,  as  there  was  for  enacting  it.  But  the 
Unitarian  asks,  why  God,  in  the  plenitude  of  his  mercy, 
may  not  extend  forgiveness  to  the  transgressor ;  whether 
the  contrary  supposition  does  not  attribute  to  the  gracious 
Sovereign  of  the  Universe  a  more  inexorable  character 
than  even  human  magistrates  usually  exemphfy ;  and 
where  is  the  inconsistency  of  supposing  that  the  divine 
government  may  be  conducted  according  to  the  analogy 
of  human  governments,  which  distinctly  recognise  provi- 
sion for  the  exercise  of  pardon  ?  I  answer,  this  feature 
in  the  character  of  human  governments  results  from  their 
imperfection  ; — from  the  fact  that  no  general  rules  that 
men  can  make  will  apply  to  every  particular  case.  But 
as  God  possesses  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  and  as 
he  gave  his  law  to  the  w^orld  with  a  distinct  and  certain 
knowledge  of  every  change  that  would  arise,  and  every 
case  that  could  occur,  is  it  not  a  reflection  upon  his  cha- 
racter to  suppose  that  he  could  in  any  degree  relax  from 
the  strictness  of  his  law  on  mere  principles  of  general 
mercy  ?  Is  it  not  virtually  charging  him  with  having 
threatened  a  penalty  in  full  view  of  all  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  would  be  incurred,  without  any  intention 
ever  to  regard  it  ?  In  view  of  such  a  doctrine  may  I 
not  ask,  what  becomes  of  the  purity  of  the  divine  cha- 
racter, of  the  dignity  and  stabihty  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment? 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  279 

In  the  system  of  Evangelical  Christianity  there  is 
provision  for  sustaining  the  character  and  law  of  God  in 
the  economy  of  forgiveness,  the  most  ample,  and  the 
most  satisfactory.  We  there  see  how  God  can  be  just  and 
yet  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly ;  how  mercy  and  truth 
can  meet  together,  rightousness  and  peace  embrace  each 
other,  in  the  great  work  of  the  sinner's  salvation.  In 
the  death  of  Christ  as  a  voluntary  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  men,  God's  law  is  magnified  and  made  honourable ; 
while  his  truth,  and  justice,  and  holiness,  are  exhibited 
to  the  universe  in  delightful  combination  with  his  love 
and  mercy.  I  know  that  human  Reason,  in  her  weak- 
ness and  vanity,  has  stumbled  at  this  scheme  ;  but  I 
know  too  that  human  Reason  has  been  out  of  her  ele- 
ment, when  she  has  attempted  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the 
mysteries  of  redemption.  I  venture  to  say  that  sanctified 
Reason — Reason  disciplined  to  a  cordial  submission  to 
God's  authority,  never  saw  any  thing  else  in  this  mighty 
scheme  but  perfect  consistency  and  the  most  sublime 
and  attractive  wonders. 

Let  me  inquire  now  whether  the  obstacle  to  the  for- 
giveness of  sin  to  which  I  have  adverted  as  inseparable 
from  the  Unitarian  scheme,  is  not  at  least  formidable 
enough  to  occasion  some  misgivings  in  the  reception  of 
the  doctrine  of  forgiveness?  Does  not  nature  herself 
feel  a  difficulty  on  this  subject ;  and  is  she  not  startled 
at  the  reflection  that  the  exercise  of  forgiving  mercy 
would  seem  at  least,  to  involve  a  conflict  among  the  di- 
vine attributes  and  a  triumph  of  one  attribute  over  an- 
other ?  Suppose  the  sinner  holds  on  to  the  hope  of  par- 
don, notwithstanding  these  inward  suggestions  and  re- 
monstrances,— yet,  must  they  not  at  least  abate  his  con- 
fidence in  the  general  truth  that  God  pardons  the  guilty ; 
and  must  they  not,  in  the  same  proportion,  render  his 


280 


EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


conscience  a  minister  of  terrour?  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  must  not  every  considerate  and  candid  mind  ac- 
knowledge that  there  is  at  least  so  much  of  the  appear- 
ance of  consistency  in  the  evangehcal  doctrine, — so  much 
that  looks  like  harmonizing  the  attributes  and  maintain- 
ing the  authority  of  God, — so  much,  I  may  say,  that 
accords  with  the  suggestions  of  Reason  and  the  aspirings 
of  Nature,  that  it  is  much  easier  on  this  ground  to  in- 
dulge a  confidence  in  God's  forgiving  mercy ;  and  of 
course  proportionally  easier  to  secure  the  blessing  of  a 
pacified  conscience  ? 

3.  Unitarianism  suspends  the  forgiveness  of  sin  on 
a  compliance  with  terms^  which  are  altogether  indefi- 
nite; while  the  terms  which  Evangelical  Christianity 
prescribes  are  accurately  defined  and  easily  under- 
stood. 

It  is  admitted  that  many  Unitarians,  in  speaking  of 
the  terms  of  forgiveness,  hold  the  same  general  language 
which  is  used  by  Evangelical  Christians :  for  instance, 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  it  is  the  sinner's  duty 
to  exercise  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  live  a  life  of  holy  obedience.  But 
when  you  ask  them  to  proceed  a  step  ferther,  and  tell 
you  what  they  mean  by  repentance,  and  faith  and  obe- 
dience, you  will  find  that  the  ideas  which  they  attach  to 
these  words  are  extremely  indefinite.  By  faith  they 
will  perhaps  mean  a  belief  in  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and,  in  some  general  sense,  of  the  divine  autho- 
rity of  the  Scriptures  ;  while  yet  they  will  maintain  that 
it  matters  little  what  particular  doctrines  are  derived  from 
the  Scriptures.  By  repentance  they  understand  the  ex- 
ercise of  some  general  regrets  in  view  of  having  done 
wrong,  without  any  deep  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  as  ex- 
hibited either  in  its  nature  or  effects ;  and  hence  thai 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  281 

state  of  mind  which  is  commonly  called  conviction  of 
sin  is  regarded  by  most  Unitarians  as  the  result  of  no- 
thing better  than  a  gloomy  and  childish  credulity,  and 
by  some  is  treated  with  absolute  contempt.  By  obedi- 
ence they  would  seem  generally  to  understand  nothing 
beyond  a  decent  moral  life ; — such  a  life  as  every  man 
must  lead  in  order  to  secure  to  himself  the  favourable 
regards  of  those  around  him.  Now  I  maintain  that 
there  is  in  this  view  of  the  terms  on  which  forgiveness 
is  bestowed  a  degree  of  abstraction,  which  must  render 
it  extremely  difficult  for  any  one  to  decide  whether  he 
has  complied  with  them ; — not  to  say  that  they  become 
so  comparatively  unimportant,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  be- 
lieve that  so  great  a  blessing  as  forgiveness  should  be 
suspended  on  a  compUance  with  them.  If  faith  is  a 
mere  general  belief  in  the  divine  mission  of  Christ,  or 
in  the  authority  of  Revelation,  of  what  degree  of  strength 
must  it  be  in  order  to  secure  my  forgiveness  ?  May  it 
be  only  a  feeble  and  doubting  assent,  or  must  it  be  a 
deep  and  unwavering  conviction  ?  If  repentance  amounts 
to  little  more  than  a  mere  general  regret  that  we  are  not  as 
wise  and  good  as  the  angels,  how  shall  I  know  when  that 
regret  becomes  sufficiently  strong  to  constitute  a  ground 
of  restoration  to  the  divine  favour  ?  If  Christian  obedi- 
ence is  nothing  more  than  merely  carrying  myself  decent- 
ly among  my  fellow  men,  and  avoiding  the  grosser  vices 
that  deform  society, — nothing  more  than  being  just  and 
honest  and  charitable  in  my  intercourse  with  the  world, 
and  if  you  please,  rendering  a  respectful  attention  to  the 
institutions  of  religion  ;  how  shall  I  know  when  I  have 
reached  that  point  of  external  decency  and  morality  at 
which  my  transgressions  shall  be  forgiven  and  my  sin 
covered?  Do  you  not  perceive  that,  in  respect  to  each 
of  these  great  articles  of  duty,  Unitarianism  is  altogether 
24* 


282  EVANGELICAL   CHRISTIANITY 

indefinite ; — that,  while  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  what 
it  really  inculcates,  it  is  no  less  difficult  to  determine  whe- 
ther its  requisitions  have  been  fulfilled  ? 

In  the  terms  of  forgiveness,  as  they  are  proposed  and 
understood  by  Evangelical  Christianity,  there  is  nothing 
obscure  or  indefinite.  By  faith  she  understands  a  cor- 
dial reception  of  the  whole  testimony  of  God,  and  espe- 
cially that  which  relates  to  the  salvation  of  the  sinner; — 
an  humble  and  affectionate  reliance  on  Christ  as  the 
only  and  the  all-sufficient  Saviour.  By  repentance  she 
understands  a  deep  and  affecting  view  of  sin,  a  hearty 
sorrow  for  it,  a  resolute  forsaking  of  it,  especially  from 
considerations  connected  with  the  cross  of  Christ.  By 
obedience  she  means  nothing  less  than  a  respect  to  aU 
God's  commandments  ;  to  those  which  regard  the  keep- 
ing of  the  heart  no  less  than  the  regulation  of  the  life ; 
those  which  prescribe  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  God,  as 
truly  as  those  which  more  immediately  concern  our  rela- 
tions to  our  fellow  creatures.  Taking  these  definitions 
of  the  several  exercises  or  duties  on  which  foi'giveness  is 
suspended,  you  have  something  which  is  at  once  intelli- 
gible and  palpable : — the  standard  of  Christian  charac- 
ter becomes  fixed ;  the  evidence  of  Christian  character 
is  ascertained  with  comparative  ease ;  and  if  men  remain 
undecided  in  respect  to  the  great  question  whether  they 
have  complied  with  the  terms  of  the  gospel,  it  must  be 
from  a  defect  in  their  examination  of  themselves, — not 
because  the  terms  have  not  a  fixed  and  intelligible  mean- 
ing. 

You  w^ill  readily  see  the  bearing  of  these  remarks 
upon  the  question,  which  of  the  two  systems  is  most 
adapted  to  bring  peace  to  the  sinner's  conscience.  The 
amount  of  peace,  other  things  being  equal,  must  be  in 
proportion  to  the  degree  of  certainty  which  is  felt  that 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  283 

the  terms  on  which  forgiveness  is  offered,  have  been  com- 
pHed  with ;  but  we  have  seen  that,  as  Unitarianism  ex- 
plains these  terms,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  know 
what  they  are,  and  still  more  difficult  to  know  whether 
they  have  been  fulfilled ;  while  Evangelical  Christiani- 
ty explains  them  so  fully  and  definitely  that  the  weak- 
est may  understand  them,  and  he  that  is  faithful  in 
the  study  of  his  own  heart  may  easily  determine,  with 
a  good  degree  of  confidence,  whether  or  not  he  has  com- 
pUed  with  them.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  latter  system 
is  adapted,  far  more  than  the  former,  to  sooth  the  guilty 
and  wakeful  conscience  into  peace.  If  an  awakened  sin- 
ner were  to  apply  to  me  to  prescribe  for  his  wounded  spirit, 
and  I  had  no  other  view  of  the  terms  of  salvation  than 
that  loose  and  indefinite  one  which  Unitarians  generally 
hold, — what  better  would  it  be  than  a  mockery  of  his 
wo,  if  I  were  to  exhort  him  to  comply  with  those  terms ; 
for  when  I  had  explained  them  to  him  as  well  as  I 
could,  I  could  bring  home  nothing  to  his  heart  in  the 
form  of  a  tangible  reality ;  and  perad venture,  after  he 
had  struggled  hard  to  fulfil  them,  he  would  be  unable  to 
determine  Avhether  he  had  even  taken  a  step  towards 
obtaining  the  divine  forgiveness.  But,  upon  the  princi- 
ples of  Evangelical  Christianity,  I  can  answer  the 
awakened  sinner  with  confidence,  and  make  him  under- 
stand with  ease  the  import  of  what  I  say :  I  can  exhort 
him  to  exercise  repentance  towards  God,  and  to  apply 
by  faith  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  feel  that  I  am 
deahng  in  nothing  that  is  abstract  or  theoretical ; — no- 
thing but  what,  by  God's  grace,  he  may  do,  and  may 
gain  comfortable  evidence  of  having  done.  Hei'e  I  am 
sure  that  I  do  not  trifle  with  the  sinner's  anguish;  for  I 
not  only  prescribe  a  remedy  which  is  intelligible  and  pal- 


284  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

pable,  but  one  whose  efficacy  has  been  tested  by  a  uni- 
form experience. 

4.  Unitarianism  recognises  no  special  divine  influ- 
ence upon  the  heart  to  witness  to  our  adoption:  Evan- 
gelical Christianity  recognises  the  Holy  Spirit  as  wit- 
nessing with  our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God. 

I  hardly  need  say  that  Unitarians  deny  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  distinct  agent  in  the  eco- 
nomy of  our  salvation.  Hence  Le  Clerc,  a  celebrated 
Unitarian  writer,  says,  "  It  is  no  ways  incongruous  that, 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  Spirit  of  God,  we  should  under- 
stand the  spirit  of  holiness  and  constancy  which  the 
gospel  gives."  And  hence  too,  a  Unitarian  writer  of  our 
own  country,  says,  "  By  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  are  meant  all  the  divine  means  employed  to  save 
us  from  sin," — as  "  the  Bible,"  "  all  the  instructions  we 
receive  which  are  conformable  to  the  Scriptures,"  "  the 
various  discipline  of  divine  Providence,"  &c.  In  accord- 
ance with  these  representations,  Unitarians  generally,  so 
far  as  I  know,  exclude  every  view  of  the  work  of  sanc- 
tification  which  recognises  any  other  divine  agency  upon 
the  heart  than  that  which  is  implied  in  the  operation  of 
the  general  laws  of  Providence.  They  do  not  deny 
that  there  are  various  providential  helps  proffered  to  a 
good  man  in  the  prosecution  of  a  virtuous  course ;  but 
they  usually  speak  of  virtue  in  regard  to  the  manner  of 
its  attainment,  in  a  way  which  is  only  fitted  to  show 
forth  the  praise  of  man ; — not  to  say  that  the  quality 
which  they  call  virtue  has  httle  affinity  to  evangelical 
holiness.  Of  the  work  of  sanctification,  as  having  its 
beginning  in  the  regeneration  of  the  moral  nature,  and 
being  performed  by  that  same  Almighty  Power  which, 
at  the  original  creation,  caused  the  light  to  shine  out  of 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  285 

darkness,  Unitarianism  knows  nothing;  and  as  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit  to  our  adoption  is  included  in  this 
more  general  view,  so  the  rejection  of  the  latter  necessa- 
rily supposes  that  of  the  former ;  as  the  rejection  of  any 
general  proposition,  involves  that  of  all  the  particulars. 
If  I  cannot  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  new-creates  my 
heart,  and  carries  forward  by  a  divine  energy  operating 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  my  moral  nature,  the 
work  which  he  has  himself  begun,  I  surely  cannot  be- 
lieve that  he  testifies  to  my  own  spirit  that  I  am  an  adop- 
ted child  :  I  must  set  this  down  to  the  charge  of  enthu- 
siasm ;  and  in  doing  so,  I  reject  that  which,  if  admitted, 
would  be  a  most  decisive  testimony  to  the  fact  of  my 
having  received  the  divine  forgiveness. 

Evangelical  Christianity  hails  with  joy  the  witness  of 
the  Spirit.  She  recognises  the  Holy  Ghost  as  perform- 
ing such  a  work  of  grace  in  the  soul,  exciting  such  holy 
affections  and  purposes,  accompanied  with  such  devout 
and  elevated  joys,  that  the  soul,  by  turning  an  eye  in- 
ward upon  its  own  operations,  becomes  satisfied  of  the 
reality  of  its  adoption.  Such  a  testimony  of  the  Spirit, 
you  perceive,  however  impossible  it  may  be  for  an  unre- 
newed mind  adequately  to  estimate  it,  is  no  creature  of 
enthusiasm :  on  the  contrary,  it  constitutes  a  legitimate 
part  of  the  true  economy  of  sanctification.  Enthusiasts, 
I  know,  have  often  imagined  that  they  had  this  divine 
testimony  in  their  favour,  and  have  boldly  asserted  it ; 
when  their  unholy  lives  have  given  the  lie  to  their  de- 
claration ;  but,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  you  perceive 
that  it  cannot  be  enjoyed  by  any  but  those  who  have 
been  the  subjects  of  a  sanctifying  operation  ; — those  who 
have  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  in  lively  exercise ;  for  it  is 
the  same  Spirit  that  witnesseth  in  the  Bible  that  "  with- 
out holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord,"  that  witnesseth 


286  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

in  the  heart  to  our  personal  adoption  ;  and  it  is  impossi- 
ble that  the  same  Spirit  should  render  a  contradictory 
testimony.  If  then,  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  forms  in 
the  behever's  soul  the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  brings 
them  into  such  vigorous  exercise  that  their  reality  is  un* 
questionable,  thus  witnesses  to  his  adoption,  diffusing  light 
and  joy  through  his  heart,  I  ask  what  higher  evidence 
than  this  he  could  have  that  his  name  has  been  written 
in  the  book  of  hfe  ?  The  witness  of  the  Spirit  no  doubt 
varies  in  different  cases  in  respect  to  its  degrees  of 
strength,  according  to  the  vigor  and  spirituality  of  the 
believer's  affections ;  but  I  may  safely  appeal  to  the  ex- 
perience of  multitudes  for  evidence  that  this  testimony  is 
sometimes  so  decisive  as  to  cast  out  all  apprehension, 
and  leave  the  soul  for  a  time  at  least  to  a  full  and  blessed 
assurance  of  its  own  title  to  Heaven. 

But  it  is  the  evidence  that  I  am  the  object  of  the  di- 
vine forgiveness  that  must  bring  peace  to  my  conscience. 
Here  I  have  that  evidence  in  a  form  the  most  welcome 
and  satisfactory.  God  the  Spirit  whispers  in  my  bosom, 
and  assures  me  that  I  am  an  adopted  child.  But  Uni- 
tarianism,  in  rejecting  this  testimony,  sets  aside  the 
highest  evidence  which  the  believer  can  gain  of  his  adop- 
tion. In  pronouncing  that  to  be  delusion  which  Evan- 
gehcal  Christianity  recognises  as  living  truth,  she  leaves 
the  soul  to  doubt  in  respect  to  the  reality  of  its  accep- 
tance, and  in  the  same  degree  leaves  conscience  in  pos- 
session of  its  "  inward  stings."  Who  that  desires  to  be 
freed  from  the  nestlings  of  a  guilty  conscience  will  not 
turn  away  from  Unitarianism  ?  Who  that  desires  the 
blessing  of  a  pacified  conscience,  but  will  seek  for  it  in  a 
cordial  reception  of  the  truths  of  Evangelical  Chiis- 
tianity? 

It  remains  that  we  contrast  these  systems, 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  287 

V.    As  to  THEIR  TENDENCY  TO  PRODUCE  AND  CHER- 
ISH THE  Christian  virtues. 

And  here  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  I  am  not 
at  all  disposed  to  deny,  and  certainly  have  no  warrant 
for  denying,  that  there  is  among  the  Unitarians  much 
that  is  amiable  and  praiseworthy  and  of  good  report. 
There  have  been,  and  still  are,  among  them  names 
which  I  delight  to  honour ;  and  that,  because  they  are 
associated  not  merely  with  high  intellectual  culture,  but 
with  noble  and  generous  dispositions,  and  with  exten- 
sive, I  may  say,  eminent  usefulness.  What  I  have  to 
do  under  this  article  is  to  exhibit  the  influence  of  the 
two  systems  in  the  formation  of  the  religious  character; 
and  the  admission  which  I  have  now  made  will  not  be 
found  to  interfere  with  any  statements  which  the  execu- 
tion of  this  design  may  involve.  We  will  glance  at 
some  of  the  Christian  virtues  in  detail,  that  we  may  see 
the  influence  which  these  systems  respectively  exert  in 
the  production  and  promotion  of  them. 

1.  Love  to  God. 

We  may  love  God  either  for  his  essential  character, 
or  his  beneficent  communications  ;  for  what  he  is  in 
himself,  or  for  what  he  is  to  us.  In  the  former  case,  the 
affection  partakes  more  of  complacency;  in  the  latter 
case,  more  of  gratitude ;  though  love  to  God  in  the  pro- 
per sense  legitimately  includes  both.  Let  us  see  now 
whether  this  Christian  grace  is  more  likely  to  exist  and 
flourish  under  the  influence  of  Unitarianism  or  of  Evan- 
gelical Christianity. 

And  here  I  am  met  at  the  very  outset  with  a  charge 
from  the  Unitarian  against  Evangelical  Christianityj 
which,  if  it  were  true,  would  supersede  the  necessity  of 
all  further  remark  on  this  topick ; — viz,  that  this  system 
supposes  that  there  is  little  or  no  compassion  in  the  na- 


288  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

ture  of  God ;  or  at  least  that  there  is  so  much  of  vindictive- 
ness  that  he  will  not  pardon  the  guilty,  or  bestow  upon 
them  any  blessing,  until  "  a  gallows  has  been  erected 
in  the  centre  of  the  universe,"  and  his  own  Son  execu- 
ted upon  it  as  a  full  satisfaction  to  his  offended  justice. 
I  reply  to  this  charge,  first,  that  it  is  a  libel  upon  the  sys- 
tem which  it  is  professedly  designed  to  represent; — a 
bold  and  impious  caricature  of  the  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment, in  which  no  Evangelical  Christian  ever  recog- 
nised even  the  semblance  of  his  own  creed.  And  next, 
let  me  carry  you  back  to  the  consideration  to  which  I 
had  occasion  to  advert  under  the  preceding  article — 
that,  though  God  is  presented  to  us  in  the  character  of 
a  Father,  yet  he  also  sustains  to  us  the  relation  of  a 
Lawgiver ;  that,  as  his  law  was  infinitely  perfect,  so  it 
would  be  inconsistent  with  the  divine  perfections  that  its 
authority  should  not  be  maintained ;  and  hence  arose 
the  necessity  either  that  the  transgressor  should  suffer 
in  his  own  person  the  penalty  he  had  incurred,  or  that 
some  grand  expedient  should  be  adopted  by  which  mer- 
cy and  truth  might  harmonize  in  his  forgiveness.  And 
God  did  devise  such  an  expedient: — He  "gave his  own 
Son"  to  die  for  us ;  and  yet  it  was,  on  the  part  of  his 
Son,  a  voluntary  act ;  for  "  He  gave  himself  up  for  us 
all."  Now  who  will  venture  to  say  that  this  was  a  vin- 
dictive measure?  Who  rather  will  not  acknowledge 
that  it  was  the  most  gracious  measure  which  the  heart 
of  infinite  mercy  ever  devised  ?  Surely  it  was  gracious 
in  its  operations  towards  the  sinner ;  for  it  was  adapted 
to  avert  from  him  the  greatest  evils, — to  secure  to  him 
the  richest  blessings.  And  even  in  respect  to  the  Re- 
deemer himself,  who  "bore  our  iniquities  and  carried 
our  sorrows," — who  will  say  that  its  ultimate  bearings 
were  otherwise  than  gracious ;  for  while  he  was  a  vo- 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  289 

luntary  party  in  the  covenant  of  redemption,  it  was  pro- 
mised him  that  he  should  "  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul 
and  be  satisfied ;"  that  his  mediatorial  sufferings  should 
find  their  reward  in  his  mediatorial  glory.  And  this 
reward  he  is  now  actually  receiving  on  his  throne;  and 
it  is  destined  to  become  increasingly  glorious  till  he  shall 
have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God  even  the  Father. 
Am  I  not  warranted  then  in  saying  that,  while  this  ex- 
pedient for  the  forgiveness  of  sins  was  necessary,  so  far 
as  we  can  see,  to  secure  the  stability  and  dignity  of  the 
divine  government,  there  is  nothing  in  it,  when  fairly 
examined,  that  even  seems  to  savour  of  injustice  or  cru- 
elty ;  on  the  contrary,  that  it  bespeaks  an  infinitely 
higher  degree  of  love  and  grace  than  would  have  been 
indicated  by  the  bestowment  of  pardon  irrespectively  of 
any  such  measure  ? 

I  put  it  now  to  the  enlightened  Reason  of  any  of  you 
to  decide  whether  that  view  of  the  essential  character  of 
God  which  is  presented  by  Unitarianism,  or  that  which 
is  exhibited  by  Evangelical  Christianity,  has  more  in  it 
that  is  worthy  to  be  admired,  and  venerated  and  loved. 
Even  his  paternal  character  shines  far  more  brightly 
as  it  is  held  forth  by  the  latter  system,  than  by  the  former ; 
for  while  the  blessings  bestowed,  are,  as  we  shall  pre- 
sently see,  incomparably  greater  in  the  one  case  than  in 
the  other,  they  are  bestowed  at  an  infinitely  greater  ex- 
pense ;  and  of  course  indicate  a  proportionally  higher  re- 
gard for  our  happiness.  And  as  to  his  character  as  a 
Lawgiver,  Evangelical  Christianity  completely  sustains 
it,  and  throws  around  it  a  burning  lustre,  while  Unita- 
rianism subjects  him  to  the  imputation  of  weakly  compro- 
mising the  rights  of  the  Eternal  throne.  The  former 
system,  in  attempting  to  vindicate  and  honour  his  cha- 
racter as  a  Father,  lays  his  character  as  a  Lawgiver  in^ 

25 


290  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

the  dust :  the  latter  sustains  the  honours  of  both,  and 
exhibits  them  in  such  perfect  harmony  that  they  mutu- 
ally reflect  glory  upon  each  other. 

But  there  is  another  view  to  be  taken  of  this  subject 
to  which  I  have  already  adverted ; — I  refer  to  the  con- 
sideration that  the  blessings  which  God  bestows  are  of 
infinitely  higher  value,  as  they  are  represented  by  Evan- 
gelical Christianity,  than  as  they  are  represented  by 
Unitarianism.  The  latter  scheme  makes  pardon  but 
an  inconsiderable  blessing,  because  it  vie\vs  sin  as  only 
a  light  offence :  the  former  makes  it  a  blessing  of  super- 
lative value,  because  it  views  sin  as  an  evil  of  indescri- 
bable magnitude.  The  latter  regards  sanctification  as  a 
comparatively  unimportant  matter,  as  it  denies  that  hu- 
man nature  is  radically  disordered,  and  attributes  to  it 
nothing  more  than  an  accidental  imperfection :  the  for- 
mer infinitely  heightens  the  value  of  this  blessing  by 
viewing  man  as  polluted  in  his  whole  nature ;  as  pos- 
sessed of  an  inchnation  which  vi^ould  lead  him  to  sin, 
and  of  course  would  subject  him  to  suffer,  forever,  if  it 
were  not  subdued  by  the  power  of  Almighty  grace.  On 
the  principles  of  the  one  system,  Heaven  itself  loses,  in 
a  great  degree,  its  legitimate  attractions  ;  for  while  that 
which  really  constitutes  its  chief  glory  is  not  there, — I 
mean  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  receiving  the 
homage  due  to  God  only  from  the  whole  company  of 
the  angels  and  the  ransomed  in  view  of  his  atoning 
sacrifice, — the  economy  of  that  world  is  represented  as 
differing  from  the  economy  of  this,  chiefly  in  the  fact  that 
it  furnishes  higher  facilities  for  intellectual  improvement. 
But,  on  the  principles  of  the  other  system,  Heaven  be- 
comes an  object  of  infinite  attraction  ;  for  there  the  won- 
ders of  redemption  are  displayed  and  celebrated ;  and  all 
the  inhabitants  have  their  harps  unceasingly  attuned  to 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  291 

the  same  thrilling  and  ennobling  theme  ;  and  there  is 
every  thing  to  occupy  delightfully  all  the  powers  of  the 
soul; — to  keep  the  intellect  rising  to  new  improvements, 
and  the  imagination  soaring  to  loftier  heights,  and  the 
heart  kindling  with  fresh  rapture,  and  the  whole  man 
approximating  toward  God's  own  perfection,  through 
an  illimitable  course  of  existence.  If  you  will  read 
the  descriptions  of  Heaven  which  have  been  given  by 
the  most  distinguished  Unitarian  writers,  you  will  find 
that  they  are  comparatively  tame  and  frigid ; — that 
there  is  little  in  them  that  is  fitted  to  seize  hold  of  your 
affections,  and  endear  Heaven  to  your  heart ;  but  when 
you  read  the  writings  of  Evangelical  Christians  on  this 
subject,  your  mind  is  touched  by  a  sacred  impulse,  and 
your  bosom  glows  with  devout  fervour,  and  you  are  at 
loss  for  language  in  which  to  give  utterance  to  your  la- 
bouring and  lofty  conceptions.  Is  it  not  true  then  that 
the  Christian  is  a  far  greater  debtor  to  God's  goodness 
on  the  principles  of  EvaugeUcal  Christianity,  than  on 
those  of  Unitarianism? 

Whether  then  we  consider  God  as  an  object  to  be 
loved  in  view  of  what  he  is  in  himself,  or  in  considera- 
tion of  what  he  has  done  for  us,  I  am  sure  that  we  are 
fairly  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Evangelical 
system  has  greatly  the  advantage  of  the  other  in  sup- 
plying motives  to  attract  us  toward  our  Almighty  Bene- 
factor. 

2.   Gratitude  to  Christ. 

Both  systems  professedly  recognise  this  as  one  of  the 
elements  of  Christian  character  :  Let  us  see  then  which 
is  best  adapted  to  awaken  and  cherish  it. 

Unitarianism,  (I  mean  of  course  that  species  of  it 
which  prevails  most  at  the  present  'day,  and  which  de- 
nies that  Jesus  Christ  had  any  existence  previous  to  his 


292 


EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


being  bom  at  Bethlehem,)  Unitarianism,  I  say,  is  obliged 
to  maintain  that  his  coming  into  the  world  had  not  even 
the  merit  of  a  voluntary  act ;  for  what  greater  absurdity 
can  there  be  than  to  suppose  that  a  being  who  had  no 
previous  existence  should  be  voluntary  in  his  own  birth? 
Evangelical  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  views  him 
as  having  existed  not  only  previously  to  his  birth,  but 
from  eternity ;  and  of  course  as  having  come  into  the 
world,  not  merely,  as  every  other  human  being  does,  by 
a  decree  over  which  he  had  no  controul,  but  in  obedience 
to  the  dictates  of  his  own  will ;  agreeably  to  the  pro- 
phetic description  which  is  given  of  his  advent, — "  Lo,  I 
come  to  do  thy  will  O  God  !"  In  the  one  case,  he  is  to 
be  viewed  only  as  an  instrument  raised  up  for  an  im- 
portant purpose,  as  was  Peter  or  Paul,  and  performing 
his  part  merely  in  view  of  the  circumstances  in  which 
Providence  placed  him;  in  the  other  case,  as  a  great 
Agent,  deliberately  forming  his  own  purpose  in  the  ages 
of  eternity,  and,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  voluntarily  com- 
ing forth  for  its  execution.  Paul  has  a  claim  upon  the 
gratitude  of  the  church  for  his  labours  and  sufferings 
in  her  behalf ;  but  what  a  difference  between  his  claim 
and  that  of  Jesus,  when  you  remember  that  the  former 
came  into  the  world  simply  because  God  ordained  it, 
and  became  an  Apostle  only  because  sovereign  grace 
called  and  quaUfied  him  for  it ;  and  that  the  latter  came 
forth  to  our  help  from  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father  before  the  world  was,  because  he  had  beheld  and 
pitied  our  condition  from  eternity  ! 

And  then  Evangehcal  Christianity  attributes  to  Christ 
a  far  higher  degree  oi  condescension  than  Unitarianism. 
In  the  act  of  his  coming  into  the  world  Unitarianism 
cannot  admit  that  there  is  any  condescension  ;  for  con- 
descension implies  a  voluntary  act ;  and  no  one  will  say 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  293 

that  an  individual  is  voluntary  in  being  born.  The 
only  condescension  which  he  evinces,  upon  this  scheme, 
is  that  of  an  innocent  man  submitting  to  undeserved  in- 
dignities for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  men  ;  but,  on  the 
Evangelical  scheme,  his  condescension  outruns  the  far- 
thest stretch  of  human  thought.  Hear  the  Apostle's  de- 
scription of  it,  and  say  whether  it  is  not  so : — "  Who  be- 
ing in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God  ;  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation, 
and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men  :  and  being  found  in  fashion  as 
a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  and  became  obedient  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross."  Would  you  think 
it  a  condescending  act  for  an  earthly  monarch  to  stoop 
to  the  wants  of  a  wretched  beggar  ?  What  was  it  then 
for  the  King  of  Heaven  to  exchange  a  throne  for  a  cross, 
that  he  might  save  a  worm  from  death  ? 

And  as  for  the  purpose  for  which  Jesus  came, — Uni- 
tarianism  knows  no  higher  purpose  than  to  reform  the 
world  by  his  instructions  and  example,  and  to  seal  the 
truth  of  his  testimony  with  his  blood  ;  while  Evangeli- 
cal Christianity  recognises  as  the  great  end  of  his  mis- 
sion, the  giving  of  his  life  a  ransom  for  us.  I  will  not 
say  that  he  has  conferred  no  benefit  upon  me,  who  has 
set  before  me  my  duty,  and  presented  motives  to  the  dis- 
charge of  it ;  but  I  will  say  that  he  has  done  nothing 
for  me  in  comparison  with  him  who  has  rolled  away 
the  grand  obstacle  to  my  salvation  by  atoning  for  my 
sins ;  who  has  brought  peace  to  my  conscience  by  sprink- 
ling that  conscience  with  his  own  blood  ;  who  has  gone 
into  the  Heavens  to  plead  the  merit  of  his  sacrifice  as  the 
foundation  of  my  acceptance.  Let  other  benefits  be 
duly  estimated ;  but  let  nothing  be  brought  into  com- 
parison with  the  benefits  of  Christ's  redemption. 
25* 


294  EVANGELICAL   CHRISTIANITY 

Say  now,  will  the  Evangelical  Christian  or  the  Uni- 
tarian be  more  grateful  to  his  Saviour  7  If  the  system 
held  by  the  former  represents  him  as  having  come  to 
save  us,  from  purposes  of  mercy  which  he  had  himself 
been  active  in  forming,  while  that  held  by  the  latter  ex- 
hibits him  as  altogether  involuntary  in  his  advent ;  if 
the  system  of  the  one  attributes  to  him  but  a  small 
degree  of  condescension,  while  that  of  the  other  makes 
his  condescension  infinite ;  if  the  one  recognises  hun 
only  in  the  relation  of  an  instructor  and  guide — not  un- 
like that  which  other  good  men  have  sustained  to  the 
world,  while  the  other  contemplates  him  in  a  relation 
entirely  peculiar, — not  only  as  proclaiming  salvation  to 
the  wretched  and  guilty,  but  as  actually  purchasing  it ; 
— if  these  things  are  so,  judge  ye  whether  the  Evangeli- 
cal Christian  or  the  Unitarian  finds  most  to  call  forth 
his  gratitude  to  Christ.  Read  the  writings  of  both,  and 
say  whether  that  which  might  be  expected  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  systems,  is  not  fully  realized  in  actual  expe- 
rience ;  whether  Christ  is  not  the  all-absorbing  theme  of 
the  one,  whether  any  thing  but  Christ  does  not  consti- 
tute the  burden  of  the  other. 

3.  Bejievolence  to  Tiian. 

I  here  use  the  word  benevolence  in  its  more  extensive 
sense ;  as  including  a  regard  to  the  interests  not  only  of 
the  body  but  of  the  soul ;  not  only  of  time  but  of  eter- 
nity. He  who  provides  for  the  temporal  relief  of  the 
wretched  and  destitute, — who  furnishes  bread  for  the 
hungry,  and  raiment  for  the  naked,  and  a  habitation  for 
the  houseless,  is  certainly  a  benefactor  to  his  fellow  men : 
but  he  who,  viewing  them  exposed  to  an  everlasting 
death,  puts  forth  his  hand  in  an  effort  to  save  them, — 
who,  contemplating  the  millions  that  are  perishing  for 
lack  of  the  bread  of  life,  cheerfully  contributes  of  his 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  295 

substance  to  send  it  to  them,  and  even  denies  himself, 
and  goes  forth  among  them,  as  a  herald  of  salvation, — 
such  a  man,  I  say,  exhibits  the  spirit  of  benevolence  in 
a  still  nobler  form  ; — so  much  nobler  as  the  interests  of 
the  immortal  spirit  are  superior  to  those  of  the  tenement 
which  it  inhabits.  Let  us  see  then  whether  a  spirit  of 
benevolence  in  this  extensive  and  most  legitimate  sense, 
finds  more  to  foster  it  in  Unitarianism  or  in  Evangelical 
Christianity. 

Evangelical  Christianity  finds  far  higher  examples 
of  benevolence  than  does  Unitarianism,  in  the  character 
of  God  and  of  his  Son ; — a  point  which  I  have  already 
endeavoured  to  illustrate,  in  speaking  of  the  different 
claims  which  both  the  Creator  and  the  Redeemer  have 
upon  our  gratitude,  in  view  of  the  two  systems.  If  this 
fact  be  admitted  then,  (and  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  suc- 
cessfully questioned,)  you  perceive  that  it  is  adapted  to 
exert  a  mighty  influence  in  favour  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity, in  regard  to  the  promotion  of  a  benevolent  spirit. 
It  results  from  the  constitution  of  our  nature  that  the  ex- 
amples which  we  are  most  accustomed  to  contemplate 
and  admire  gradually  become  incorporated,  in  respect  to 
some  of  their  leading  qualities,  among  the  elements  of 
our  intellectual  and  moral  habits.  The  more  of  bene- 
volence then  the  Christian  sees  in  the  character  of  God 
and  of  Jesus  Christ,  (as  these  are  the  objects  with  which 
his  faiih  is  most  conversant,)  the  more  will  a  spirit  of 
good  will  to  man  glow  in  his  bosom.  Suppose  you  were 
in  the  habit  of  associating  with  an  individual  who  exhi- 
bited in  some  degree  a  benevolent  spirit,  and  occasional- 
ly performed  deeds  of  mercy, — no  doubt  your  intercourse 
with  him  might  have  some  influence  in  waking  up  ge- 
nerous feelings  in  your  own  heart;  but  suppose  you  were 
to  be  the  constant  companion  of  such  a  man  as  How- 


296  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

ardj — were  to  see  him  going  through  the  world,  hke  an 
angel  of  mercy,  and  wearing  out  his  life  for  the  reUef  of 
human  wo, — it  were  scarcely  possible,  if  there  were  even 
the  germe  of  a  benevolent  spirit  in  your  bosom,  but  that 
that  spirit,  under  such  an  influence,  should  blaze  forth 
in  bright  and  vigorous  action.  I  would  reverently  ap- 
ply this  illustration  to  the  case  before  us.  Unitarianism 
sees  a  lower  degree,  Evangelical  Christianity,  a  higher 
degree,  of  good  will  to  man,  in  the  great  objects  which 
are  proposed  for  our  imitation :  must  there  not  then  be 
a  proportional  difference  in  the  amount  of  influence 
which  they  respectively  exert  in  forming  man  to  the 
same  benevolent  temper  ? 

Evangelical  Christianity  enforces  the  obligation  to 
cultivate  a  benevolent  spirit,  far  more  strongly  than  Uni- 
tarianism. It  is  one  of  the  grand  laAvs  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration,— a  law  which  will  controul  the  decisions  of 
the  final  judgment,  and  the  equity  of  which  instantly 
commends  itself  to  every  mind,  that  "  unto  whomsoever 
much  is  given,  of  him  shall  be  much  required."  But, 
we  have  already  seen  that  incomparably  more  has 
been  done  for  us,  incomparably  more  has  been  pro- 
mised to  us,  on  the  principles  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity than  on  the  principles  of  Unitarianism.  So  much 
the  greater  then  is  our  obligation  to  exhibit  a  benevolent 
spirit  toward  others ;  for  it  is  by  this  means  especially 
that  we  are  to  glorify  God,  and  to  indicate  our  sense  of 
his  goodness  towards  ourselves.  Hence  we  find  that  his 
gracious  recognition  of  the  beneficence  of  his  people  to- 
ward the  children  of  want  and  wo,  is  one  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  been  prophetically  exhibited  to 
us,  in  a  description  of  the  judgment : — "  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  bre- 
thren, ye  have  done  it  unto  me."    In  doing  good  to  the 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  297 

wretched  and  helpless,  I  am  fulfilling  God's  command : — 
it  is  indeed  a  command  which  is  right  in  itself,  and 
which,  on  account  of  its  very  nature,  as  well  as  the  au- 
thority from  which  it  emanates,  I  should  be  bound  to 
obey ;  but  clearly  my  obligation  to  obedience  must  be 
rendered  more  or  less  impressive  by  the  relation  he  sus- 
tains to  me  as  a  Benefactor.  If  I  feel  that  he  has  given 
me  my  existence,  and  all  my  faculties  and  means  of  en- 
joyment, and  moreover  has  sent  his  Son  into  the  world 
to  teach  me  the  divine  will,  and  encourage  me  to  the 
discharge  of  duty,  I  cannot  deny  that  all  this  creates  a 
powerful  obhgation  on  my  part  to  obey  his  command  to 
do  good  to  his  creatures.  But  if,  in  addition  to  this,  I 
am  permitted  to  view  him  as  having  given  his  Son  to 
redeem  me  from  the  curse  of  the  second  death  by  beco- 
ming my  atoning  sacrifice ;  if  I  can  contemplate  in  the 
work  of  redemption  a  provision  which  has  filled  Heaven 
with  wonder  and  rapture,  and  reflect  that  that  provision 
is  to  raise  tna  to  the  abodes  of  glory,  and  that,  without 
it,  I  must  have  sunk  into  the  abyss  of  despair,  must  not 
my  sense  of  obligation  to  obey  this  command  be  immea- 
surably heightened ;  and  shall  1  not  regard  it  one  of  my 
highest  privileges  to  do  good  to  others,  when  such  infi- 
nite good  has  been  accomplished  for  me  ? 

Moreover,  Evangelical  Christianity  opens  a  far  more 
extensive  and  interesting  ^e/c?  of  benevolence  than  Uni- 
tarianism.  I  refer  here  particularly  to  the  views  which 
the  two  systems  present  of  the  character  and  condition 
of  man  ;  the  one  exhibiting  him  as  the  subject  of  a  deep 
moral  malady,  which  must  prove  fatal  unless  it  is  re- 
moved, the  other  as  the  subject  of  an  accidental  imper- 
fection, which  furnishes  no  occasion  for  any  serious  alarm. 
If  we  look  at  man  merely  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  world, 
subject  to  vicissitude  and  calamity,  and  sometimes  actu- 


298  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

ally  sinking  under  a  burden  of  wo,  we  can  hardly  fail 
to  be  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  he  is  a  proper 
object  of  our  sympathy  and  our  charity.  If  we  view 
him  as  ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  religion,  a  slave 
of  animal  appetite,  an  outcast  from  virtuous  and  even 
decent  society,  we  shall  be  constrained  to  feel  still  more 
deeply,  that  there  is  that  in  his  condition  which  appeals 
strongly  to  our  benevolent  sensibihties.  But  when  we 
ascend  one  step  higher,  and  view  him  in  his  relation  not 
only  to  this  world  but  to  the  next, — in  his  relation  to 
God,  not  only  as  a  creature  of  his  care  and  goodness,  but 
as  a  rebel  against  his  government ; — when  we  contem- 
plate him  in  the  light  of  that  coming  judgment  in  which 
he  shall  not  be  able  to  stand,  of  that  wretched  eternity 
whose  fierce  terrours  will  bring  dismay  to  the  stoutest 
heart ;  and  when,  in  connexion  with  all  this,  we  remem- 
ber that  he  is  yet  within  the  reach  of  God's  pardoning 
mercy  and  renewing  grace,  and  that  our  humble  instru- 
mentality may  avail  to  his  being  made  the  subject  of 
these  rich  and  everlasting  blessings  ; — I  ask  you  whether 
this  view  of  his  condition  is  not  fitted  to  induce  yearn- 
ings of  compassion  in  his  behalf?  But  this  is  precisely 
the  view  which  Evangelical  Christianity  takes  of  it; 
whereas  Unitarianism  regards  such  a  view  as  scarcely 
better  than  a  libel  upon  human  nature.  If  my  fellow 
creature  is  entitled  to  my  compassion  at  all  in  proportion 
to  the  degree  of  calamity  to  which  he  is  subject,  there  is 
surely  that  in  Evangelical  Christianity  which  must 
awaken  my  compassion  towards  him  far  more  strongly 
than  it  ever  could  be  awakened  through  the  influence  of 
Unitarianism.  And  while  each  individual  who  has  not 
been  converted  to  God  becomes,  in  the  light  of  the  for- 
mer system,  an  object  adapted  strongly  to  draw  forth  my 
compassionate  regards,  when  I  cast  my  eye  over  the 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  299 

worldj  I  behold  hundreds  of  millions  of  beings  who  are 
in  precisely  that  condition  ;  and  far  the  greater  portion 
of  whom  have  never  heard  even  of  the  existence  of 
Christianity.  Is  not  here  a  field  for  benevolent  effort  of 
which  Uiiitarianism  knows  nothing  ?  It  is  a  field  of 
spiritual  wretchedness  and  death,  as  long  and  broad  as 
the  world. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  showing  that  Evangehcal 
Christianity  points  to  higher  examples  of  benevolence  in 
the  Creator  and  Redeemer  of  the  world,  that  it  enforces 
more  strongly  the  obligations  to  benevolence,  that  it 
opens  a  more  extensive  and  interesting  field  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  benevolence,  than  the  opposite  system,  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  it  is  adapted  in  a  proportionally  higher 
degree  to  promote  a  benevolent  spirit. 

4.  Humility. 

In  order  to  see  the  different  tendencies  of  these  sys- 
tems in  respect  to  the  promotion  of  this  virtue,  we  need 
only  glance  at  the  different  views  which  they  take  of  the 
natural  character  and  condition  of  man,  and  the  provi- 
sion made  for  his  redemption. 

What  is  there  in  man's  oion  character  and  condi- 
tion which  constitutes  a  ground  for  humihty  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  Unitarianism.  There  is  the  fact  that  he  is  infi- 
nitely below  his  Maker,  and  a  little  lower  than  the  an- 
gels ;  that  both  his  knowledge  and  his  virtue  are  in  the 
present  state  imperfect ;  and  that  he  is  subject  to  various 
trials  which,  however,  are  fitted  to  subserve  his  moral 
improvement.  As  for  his  destiny,  Unitarianism  acknow- 
ledges that  there  is  some  obscurity  resting  over  it;  but  she 
sees  nothing  in  sin  to  warrant  the  apprehension  of  an 
eternal  punishment.  Evangelical  Christianity,  on  the 
contrary,  teaches  man  that  he  is  ruined  in  his  whole  na- 
ture ;  that  God's  moral  image  is  completely  effaced  from 


300  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

his  soul ;  that  a  spirit  of  rebellion  against  the  Ruler  of 
the  world  and  against  his  own  infinite  Benefactor,  is  en- 
throned in  his  bosom ;  that  there  is  a  sentence  of  con- 
demnation burning  against  him  which  consigns  him  to 
an  endless  perdition.  And  is  not  here  enough  to  make 
him  humble  ?  Can  he,  with  this  view  of  his  own  cha- 
racter, venture  before  the  throne  of  infinite  purity  with 
any  other  than  a  subdued  spirit  ?  Will  he  not  often  find 
himself  breathing  forth  the  prayer,  "  God  be  merciful  to 
me  a  sinner"?  But,  upon  the  opposite  system,  such 
feelings  and  expressions  of  self-abasement  would  be  un- 
reasonable. If  I  have  nothing  more  to  make  me  hum- 
ble than  the  reflection  that  I  am  frail,  dependant,  imper- 
fect, mortal,  is  it  not  probable  that  the  influence  even  of 
these  considerations  will  be  neutralized  by  the  para- 
mount influence  of  other  considerations  connected  with 
the  dignity  of  my  nature ;  especially  as  being  a  creature 
of  God,  and  a  creature  of  immortality  ? 

But  we  are  brought  to  the  same  result,  if  we  notice 
the  different  views  which  the  two  systems  take  of  the 
remedial  provision  which  the  gospel  offers.  On  the 
principles  of  Unitarianism,  that  provision  scarcely  car- 
ries a  rebuke  to  the  indulgence  of  man's  self-complacen- 
cy: on  the  principles  of  Evangelical  Christianity,  it 
prostrates  him  in  the  dust.  For  if  God  has  done  no- 
thing more  for  man  than  send  his  Son  into  the  world  to 
inculcate  a  purer  system  of  moral  virtue,  and  to  exem- 
plify the  purity  of  that  system  in  his  fife,  it  is  a  legiti- 
mate conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  in  man's  charac- 
ter or  condition  to  furnish  much  occasion  either  for  ap- 
prehension or  self-abasement ;  as  it  is  fair  to  judge  of  the 
exigency  of  the  case  by  the  provision  with  which  Infi- 
nite Wisdom  has  been  pleased  to  meet  it.  But  if  God 
has  sent  his  Son  not  merely  to  instruct  but  to  atone ;  if 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  301 

the  Son  whom  he  has  sent  is  not  merely  a  man  like 
ourselves  but  the  Brightness  of  the  Father's  Glory,  and 
the  express  Image  of  his  Person ;  then  surely  this  would 
indicate  that  there  was  some  mighty  exigency  to  be  met ; 
that  human  nature  must  be  in  absolute  ruin,  to  require 
such  an  amazing  interposition  to  restore  it.  Indeed  it  is 
from  the  cross  of  Christ  that  the  Evangelical  Christian 
derives  his  most  powerful  arguments  for  humihty :  Never 
does  he  feel  so  much  his  utter  unworthiness  even  to  lift 
up  his  eyes  to  Heaven,  as  when  the  eye  of  his  faith  rests 
on  his  Redeemer's  expiring  agonies ;  but  the  Unitarian, 
with  his  views,  may  incur  Uttle  inconsistency,  if  he  gaze 
upon  the  cross,  and  then  go  away  and  wrap  himself  up 
in  the  robes  of  his  wonted  self-complacency. 

5.  Christian  obedience  :  by  which  I  mean  an  exter- 
nal compliance  with  the  divine  commands,  from  mo- 
tives which  meet  the  divine  approbation.  I  shall  hmit 
myself  to  a  consideration  of  Christian  obedience  in  its 
more  self-denying  forms. 

Of  the  influence  of  the  two  systems  in  developing  and 
cherishing  several  of  the  great  principles  of  Christian 
action,  I  have  already  spoken ;  and  there  remains  little 
to  be  said  under  this  article,  other  than  to  apply  the  con- 
clusions to  which  we  have  actually  arrived.  What  more 
powerful  principles  of  religious  action  are  there  than  love 
to  God  and  gratitude  to  Christ?  If  then.  Evangelical 
Christianity  contributes  to  form  and  strengthen  these  far 
more  than  Unitarianism,  the  former  must,  in  the  same 
degree,  exceed  the  latter,  in  nerving  the  Christian's  hand 
for  bold  and  vigorous  action.  If  the  one  is  much  better 
fitted  to  promote  the  spirit  of  benevolence  than  the  other, 
there  must  be  a  proportional  difference  between  them  in 
the  amount  of  self-denying  effort  to  which  they  respec- 
tively lead;  for  who  does  not  know  that  where  the  ice  of 
26 


302  EVANGELICAL   CHRISTIANITY 

human  selfishness  is  but  half  thawed  out  from  the  heart, 
it  is  in  vain  to  look  for  a  life  of  consistent  benevolence ; 
and  that  where,  on  the  other  hand,  the  spirit  of  the  good 
Samaritan  has  taken  possession  of  the  heart,  the  deeds 
of  the  good  Samaritan  will  be  manifest  in  the  conduct? 
If  it  be  once  admitted  that  the  Evangelical  system  ex- 
erts a  more  powerful  influence  than  Unitarianism  in 
moulding  the  Christian  affections,  you  have  only  to  keep 
in  view  the  fact  that  these  affections  constitute  the  prin- 
ciples of  moral  conduct, — that  the  heart  is  to  the  life 
what  the  fountain  is  to  the  stream ;  to  arrive  at  once  at 
the  conclusion  that  the  former  system  must  lead  to  a 
higher  and  nobler  course  of  religious  action  than  the  lat- 
ter ;  that,  while  the  one  tends  to  self-indulgence  and  in- 
action, the  other  prompts  to  vigorous  and  persevering 
self-denial. 

And  here  I  trust  it  will  not  be  thought  invidious,  if  I 
direct  your  attention  for  a  moment  from  what  we  might 
expect  would  be,  to  what  we  know  actually  is ; — in  other 
words,  to  the  comparative  amount  of  self-denying  and 
beneficent  activity  which  has  really  followed, — still  fol- 
lows, in  the  track  of  the  two  systems.  Well  am  I  aware 
that  many  Unitarians  have  exhibited  a  noble  and  phi- 
lanthropick  spirit,  especially  by  contributing  Hberally  of 
their  substance  for  the  relief  of  human  wo ;  but,  if  I 
mistake  not,  you  will  find,  in  nearly  every  instance,  that 
their  benevolent  efforts  have  been  directed,  rather  to  sup- 
ply the  wants  of  the  body,  than  to  meet  the  exigencies  of 
the  soul.  The  history  of  Unitarianism  may  safely  be 
challenged  for  one  such  name  as  that  of  Swartz,  or 
Eliot,  or  thousands  of  others,  that  illumine  the  record  of 
Evangelical  Christianity.  And  I  venture  to  say  that 
such  a  character  as  these  men  possessed,  never  could  be 
formed  under  the  influence  of  the  Unitarian  system.    If 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  303 

they  had  believed  that  man,  instead  of  being  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins,  and  Hable  to  an  eternal  death,  is  only 
an  imperfect  being,  and  has  little  or  nothing  to  fear  in 
respect  to  the  future,  they  would  not  have  sacrificed  so 
cheerfully  their  earthly  interests  to  carry  him  the  gospel 
of  salvation.  If  they  had  regarded  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
mere  human  teacher  divinely  commissioned  to  proclaim 
God's  will,  it  is  impossible  that  their  gratitude  towards 
him  should  have  engaged  them  to  such  acts  of  heroick 
self-denial  as  to  lead  them  not  even  to  count  their  lives 
dear  in  his  service.  No,  no,  I  repeat,  such  characters 
were  never  formed — never  could  be  formed,  under  the 
operation  of  any  other  than  Evangelical  principles. — 
There  is  in  them  too  much  of  that  Christian  heroism 
which  shrinks  not  from  bearing  the  cross  any  where, 
every  where,  to  have  had  its  origin  in  any  thing  else 
than  the  constraining  influence  of  the  love  of  Christ. — 
And  I  may  speak  not  uuly  of  what  has  been,  but  of  what 
is ;  for  never  was  this  difference  between  the  two  systems 
more  strikingly  exemplified  than  in  some  of  the  doings 
of  the  present  day.  If  you  look  into  the  vast  wilderness 
which  still  constitutes  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  our 
country,  you  will  see  here  and  there  a  white  man  teach- 
ing the  poor  Indians  to  read,  and  kneeUng  with  them 
in  their  devotions  and  directing  their  hearts  toward  Hea- 
ven ;  and  if  you  follow  him  from  day  to  day,  you  will 
see  that  he  is  wearing  out  his  life  in  this  humble 
and  self-denying  vocation.  If  you  direct  your  view 
across  the  ocean,  you  will  see  another  set  of  men  labour- 
ing on  the  burning  plains  of  India,  and  another  still  in 
the  cold  regions  of  the  North,  and  yet  another  among 
the  degraded  Hottentots  of  Africa,  for  the  benevolent 
purpose  of  making  known  the  gospel ;  and  this  too  at 
the  hazard  of  meeting  a  premature,  if  not  a  violent, 


304 


EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


death.  These  are  men  who  might  have  staid  at  home, 
and  enjoyed  all  the  blessings  of  civilized  and  Christian 
and  domestick  society ;  but  such  was  their  love  to  Christ, 
and  such  their  benevolence  to  man,  that  they  left  all  to 
serve  their  master  and  to  save  their  fellow  creatures. — 
Need  I  ask  whether  these  men  are  Unitarians  or  Evan- 
gelical Christians?  Need  I  ask  whether  the  great  sys- 
tem of  operations  which  is  going  forward  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world  is  sustained  by  Unitarians  or  Evange- 
lical Christians  ?  I  mean  not  to  be  invidious  when  I 
say  that  Evangelical  Christianity  does  the  work,  while 
Unitarianism  stands  by  and  congratulates  herself  that 
she  can  be  true  to  her  principles  without  making  such 
mighty  sacrifices ;  nay,  and  sometimes  denounces  the 
loftiest  enterprizes  of  benevolence  as  nothing  better  than 
the  dreams  of  a  delirious  fanaticism. 

1.  It  is  an  obvious  deduction  from  thp.  preceding  train 
of  remark,  that  a  belief  in  the  ^reat  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity constitutes  the  only  legitimate  basis  of  Chris- 
tian character. 

I  am  well  aware  that  there  may  be  much  that  has 
the  semblance  of  Christian  conduct  where  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  Christianity  are  rejected: — there  may  be  the 
outward  decencies  of  a  moral  life ; — there  may  be  a  uni- 
form course  of  equitable  and  honourable  dealing,  and  a 
spirit  of  courtesy  and  generosity  and  benevolence  may 
breathe  in  all  the  intercourse  between  man  and  man, 
and  yet  not  one  of  those  cardinal  doctrines  by  which 
Christianity  is  especially  distinguished  from  Natural  Re- 
ligion, may  have  found  a  lodgment  either  in  the  heart  or 
the  understanding.  But  all  this  may  exist  independent- 
ly of  what  I  mean  by  true  Christian  character :  it  may 
be  merely  the  operation  of  a  naturally  generous  spirit, 
or  it  may  result  even  from  the  calculations  of  self-love. 


CONTRASTED   WITH    UNITARIANISM.  305 

Christian  cliaracter  implies  much  more :  it  supposes  not 
merely  that  the  outward  act  be  right,  but  that  the  in- 
ward feeling  be  right  also ; — right,  I  mean,  according  to 
the  standard  of  God's  word ;  and  to  suppose  that  this 
could  happen  independently  of  a  belief  in  the  truths  of 
the  gospel,  were  to  admit  an  absurdity.  We  feel  on 
every  subject  agreeably  to  the  views  which  we  take  of 
it ;  and  this  remark  applies  to  religion  as  truly  as  any 
thing  else.  Certain  it  is  then  that  our  rehgious  charac- 
ter will  be  modified  by  our  views  of  religious  truth  :  of 
course  where  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel  are  absolute- 
ly rejected,  there  can  be  no  foundation  for  religious  cha- 
racter. 

Never  then,  for  a  moment,  admit  the  absurd  and  dan- 
gerous doctrine  that  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  believes 
provided  his  life  be  good ;  for  while  this  doctrine  supposes 
that  a  pure  stream  may  emanate  from  a  corrupt  foun- 
tain, and  that  that  God  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  iniquity,  and  whose  prerogative  it  is  to  search  the 
heart,  after  all,  passes  upon  the  character  in  view  of  what 
is  merely  external,  and  connives  at  a  spirit  of  rebeUion 
within  provided  there  be  the  appearance  of  decency  with- 
out; it  inevitably  leads  to  a  disregard  of  all  truth,  and 
puts  man  in  the  impious  attitude  of  casting  contempt 
upon  the  divine  authority.  Rely  on  it,  my  friends,  if 
the  truths  of  the  gospel  had  not  been  of  mighty  import- 
ance, they  would  never  have  been  revealed,  especially 
at  such  amazing  expense ;  and  just  in  proportion  as 
you  hold  views  which  detract  from  theu*  importance,  you 
put  your  immortal  interests  in  jeopardy.  Men  are  sanc- 
tified by  the  truth — the  peculiar  truths  of  the  gospel — 
and  by  nothing  else :  of  course,  if  this  great  means  of 
sanctification  is  rejected,  where  is  there  any  ground  for 
hope  that  they  will  be  sanctified  at  all  ?  And  if  they 
26* 


306  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

are  not  sanctified,  how  will  they  ever  enter  Heaven  ? 
Take  heed  that  you  do  not  rely  for  salvation  upon  mere 
intellectual  views  of  truth  ;  but  take  heed  also  that  you 
do  not  undervalue  a  correct  speculative  faith  ;  for  while 
such  a  faith  enters  essentially  into  the  constitution  of 
the  Christian  character,  remember  that  indifference  to 
the  truth  is  the  legitimate  preparation  of  the  mind  for  a 
league  with  dangerous  and  destructive  errour. 

2.  Of  how  much  greater  value  does  the  Bible  he- 
come  on  the  'principles  of  Evangelical  Christianity, 
than  on  those  of  Unitarianism, ! 

Once  admit  that  men  may  be  saved  without  a  know- 
ledge of  the  great  truths  which  the  Bible  reveals,  and 
you  admit  that  which  makes  the  Book  itself  of  compara- 
tively little  importance ;  because,  though  it  may  contain 
much  that  is  excellent  and  adapted  to  exalt  the  human 
character,  yet  if,  after  all,  salvation, — the  richest  of  all 
blessings,  can  be  attanied  without  it,  who  will  say  that 
it  may  not  at  least  safely  be  dispensed  with  ?  But  how 
much  is  the  case  changed,  when  you  come  to  admit 
that  a  knowledge  of  these  truths,  coinmunicated  in 
some  way  or  other,  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul :  and  that  he  that  believeth  them  not 
shall  not  see  hfe,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him ! 
Now  the  Unitarian  maintains  that  a  belief  in  the  gospel 
is  not  essential  to  salvation ;  that  those  who  have  the 
Bible  in  their  hands  and  reject  its  divine  authority  alto- 
gether, may  still  be  good  men  and  candidates  for  Hea- 
ven ;  and  if  the  Bible  contains  nothing  more  than  he 
finds  in  it,  he  is  right  and  consistent  in  doing  so :  for 
surely  if  he  should  cast  it  to  the  winds,  every  thing  that 
he  regards  essential  would  be  left  to  him  in  the  system 
of  Natural  Religion.  The  Evangehcal  Christian,  on 
the  other  hand,  regards  the  Bible  as  disclosing  the  only 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  307 

means  of  eternal  life ;  he  looks  upon  every  sinner's  case 
as  hopeless,  until  he  is  interested  by  faith  in  that  atoning 
sacrifice  which  the  Bible  alone  reveals.  Here  then  the 
secret  comes  out  wherefore  it  is  that  EvangeHcal  Chris- 
tians place  so  much  higher  value  upon  the  Scriptures 
tlian  Unitarians;  wherefore  it  is  that  the  former  are 
sending  them,  as  if  on  the  wings  of  the  morning,  all 
over  the  world,  while  the  latter,  for  the  most  part,  mani- 
fest little  interest  in  any  such  enterprize.  The  truth  is 
that  both  are  acting  in  consistency  with  their  own  prin- 
ciples :  both  are  treating  the  Bible  according  to  their  re- 
spective views  of  its  importance.  Could  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  or  the  American  Bible  Society, — 
I  had  almost  said,  the  two  brightest  glories  of  the  age, — 
be  sustained,  think  you,  by  Unitarian  zeal  and  chai'ity? 
I  venture  to  say,  not  for  a  single  year.  These  institu- 
tions could  never  move  on  but  under  the  all  inspiring 
consideration  that,  in  sending  the  Bible  abroad,  we  are 
imparting  a  gift  with  which  God  himself  has  connected 
the  soul's  everlasting  salvation. 

3.  Our  subject  shows  us  the  intimate  connexion  be- 
tween Unitarianism  and  one  species  of  Universalism. 

There  are  those,  I  know,  who  arrive  at  the  conclu- 
sion that  all  men  will  finally  be  saved  from  a  perverted 
view  of  Christ's  atonement ;  maintaining  that  his  death 
is  the  literal  payment  of  the  debt  which  the  world  owed 
to  divine  justice  ; — a  consideration  upon  which  all  men, 
irrespective  of  personal  qualifications,  have  the  glories  of 
Heaven  made  secure  to  them.  But  the  same  general 
conclusion,  to  say  the  least,  as  legitimately  results  from 
the  scheme  of  modern  Unitarianism ;  and  that,  whether 
you  view  it  in  respect  to  the  character  of  man,  or  the 
character  of  God.  For  if  man  be  the  subject  of  nothing 
worse  than  accidental  infirmity  and  imperfection, — aa 


308  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

evil  so  slight  that  it  may  be  passed  by  without  any  atone- 
ment, surely  it  was  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it 
should  lead  to  any  such  fearful  result  as  eternal  misery. 
And  then  again,  if  God's  character  as  a  Lawgiver  is  to 
be  merged  in  his  character  as  a  Father  ;  if  his  justice 
can  give  place  to  his  mercy  in  the  pardon  of  any  sin. 
without  some  arrangement  for  securing  the  rights  of  his 
government,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  there  can 
be  no  degree  of  sin  that  is  so  odious  to  him  as  to  consti- 
tute the  ground  of  an  eternal  condemnation.  The  Uni- 
tarian then,  upon  his  own  principles,  is  fairly  brought  to 
the  conclusion,  either  that  there  will  be  no  punishment, 
or  but  a  limited  punishment,  for  the  sinner,  in  a  future 
world.  And  most  Unitarians,  so  far  as  I  know,  not  only 
admit  this  conclusion,  but  earnestly  contend  for  it :  in 
other  words,  they  adopt  one  or  the  other  of  the  systems 
of  Universalism  as  part  of  their  own  creed. 

If  then  Unitarianism  has  actually  adopted  Universal- 
ism, so  that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  one  has  become  incor- 
porated with  the  other,  I  ask  whether  this  new  feature 
in  the  Unitarian's  creed  does  not  array  it  still  more 
strongly  against  the  word  of  God,  as  well  as  heighten 
its  dangerous  moral  tendencies.  I  know  that  all  the 
corrupt  propensities  of  the  heart  plead  for  the  doctrine 
of  universal  salvation;  but  God's  word  brands  it  as  a 
lie ;  and  conscience  loudly  seconds  the  testimony.  That 
it  is  not  possible  for  a  good  man  to  hold  this  doctrine  in 
certain  connexions  I  will  not  assert;  but  I  assert  with- 
out hesitation  that  there  is  no  doctrine  which  more  ef- 
fectually Hcenses  every  corrupt  principle  of  our  nature ; 
which  more  certainly  throws  open  the  floodgates  of 
crime ;  or  the  reception  of  which  more  legitimately  war- 
rants the  expectation  of  a  thoroughly  depraved  character. 
Enter  not  into  this  path  of  the  wicked.     Turn  from  it. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    UNITARIANISM.  309 

and  pass  away,  as  you  value  your  interests  for  eternity. 

4.  Finally :  Who  that  cominunes  with  his  own  con- 
science, or  takes  counsel  of  death  bed  scenes,  will  hesi- 
tate in  the  choice  between  Evangelical  Christianity 
and  Unitarianism  7 

I  am  aware  that  Unitarianism  may  seem  to  do  well 
enough,  so  long  as  the  conscience  is  asleep,  and  the 
world  smiles,  and  death  is  kept  out  of  remembrance. — 
But  let  the  case  change  in  "either  of  these  respects,  and 
you  will  see  that  an  exigency  has  occurred  which  the 
system  was  not  designed  to  meet.  What  if  conscience 
awake  to  its  appropriate  office,  and  accuse  you  of  your 
rebellion  against  God,  and  force  you  to  look  towards  the 
horrours  of  a  coming  world ; — you  may  have  the  best 
consolations  that  Unitarianism  can  furnish  offered  you, 
and  you  will  reject  them  as  altogether  inadequate,  and 
pant  for  something  which  it  belongs  not  to  the  sys- 
tem to  yield.  Or  suppose  again  that  the  cup  of  plea- 
sure is  suddenly  taken  out  of  your  hands,  and  a  cup 
of  gall  substituted  in  its  place ; — suppose  especially  that 
you  are  brought  to  realize  that  the  scenes  of  your  worldly 
joy  are  at  an  end,  and  that  the  king  of  terrours  is  approach- 
ing you  on  his  mysterious  and  appalling  agency ; — rely 
on  it,  you  have  made  no  adequate  preparation  for  an  oc- 
casion like  this,  unless  you  have  looked  beyond  the  sys- 
tem of  Unitarianism.  I  do  not  say  that  there  have  not 
been  cases  in  which  individuals  have  evinced  great  tran- 
quillity in  death,  who  have  openly  rejected  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ ;  and  so  too,  I  know,  there  have  been 
those  who  have  openly  declared  against  the  Religion  of 
Christ  in  every  form,  who  have  breathed  out  their  hves 
apparently  without  a  chill  of  apprehension ;  but  while 
some  such  instances  occur  both  among  Unitarians  and 
Deists,  how  numerous  are  the  cases  in  which  their  sys- 


310  EVANGELICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

tem  utterly  fails  them  in  the  last  hour,  and  they  are  left 
to  grope  through  the  dark  valley  without  a  ray  of  con- 
solation !  But  not  so  with  EvangeHcal  Christianity. — 
Whatever  her  votaries  may  have  feared  in  respect  to 
the  genuineness  of  their  own  experience,  I  venture  to  say 
that  the  instance  never  occurred  in  which  the  soul  that 
had  believed  in  Christ's  atonement,  doubted  in  the  last 
hour  whether  that  were  a  sure  foundation.  It  stands 
like  the  rock  of  ages;  and  the  billows  of  death  beat 
around  it  in  vain. 

Are  you,  my  young  friend,  amidst  your  dreams  of 
thoughtlessness,  half  inclined  to  adopt  the  Unitarian  sys- 
tem as  your  creed  ?  Before  you  do  it,  reflect  that  you 
have  within  your  bosom  a  conscience,  which,  though  it 
slumbers  now,  will  ere  long  awake  and  shew  itself  a 
minister  of  wrath,  and  will  refuse  to  be  pacified  by  any 
thing  short  of  that  atoning  blood  which  Unitarianism 
rejects.  While  the  world  turns  from  you  its  dark  side, 
and  the  grave  seems  hid  in  a  distant  futurity,  you  may 
be  ready  to  ask  yourself  "  What  more  consolation  do  I 
need  than  Unitarianism  furnishes  ?"  But  forget  not  the 
evil  days  that  are  to  come ; — days  of  disappointment, 
days  of  calamity,  and  especially  the  dark  day  of  death, 
in  which  nothing  but  the  grace  of  an  Almighty  Saviour 
will  be  sufficient  to  sustain  you.  Make  provision  for  the 
future  by  embracing  the  system  of  Evangelical  truth. 
Receive  it  cordially  and  practically,  and  I  will  have  no 
apprehension  either  for  your  safety  or  your  comfort, 
though  I  should  see  you  walking  in  the  midst  of  trou- 
ble, or  even  writhing  in  the  monster's  hands. 


LECTURE  VII, 


PRACTICAL  CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH 
ANTINOMIANISM. 


Titus  II.  II,  12,  13,  14. 

For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath  ap- 
peared  to  all  men ;  teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously  and 
godly,  in  this  prese7it  world;  looking  for  that  blessed  hope 
and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ ;  who  gave  himself  for  us  that  He  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  pe- 
culiar people,  zealous  of  good  works, 

IN  CONNEXION  WITH 
JUDE    4. 

—  Ungodly  men,  turning  the  grace  of  our  God  into  la- 
sciviousness. 

The  chapter  which  contains  the  former  of  these  pas- 
sages, the  Apostle  introduces  by  a  series  of  directions, 
such  as  it  became  an  elder  minister  to  address  to  a 
younger,  and  especially  to  his  own  son  in  the  faith,  in 
reference  to  the  manner  in  which  he  should  discharge 
the  ministerial  office.  He  then  proceeds  in  the  words 
just  recited  to  enforce  what  he  had  said  by  an  argument 


312  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

drawn  from  the  influence  which  Christianity  exerts  over 
the  heart  and  Ufe ;  in  connexion  with  the  great  object 
of  the  Christian's  hope,  as  it  is  to  be  reahzed  at  the  se- 
cond appearing  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  distinctly  declares 
that  the  "  grace"  which  "  bringeth  salvation,"  instead  of 
relaxing  the  obligations  of  righteousness,  confirms  them ; 
and  supplies  motives  to  a  holy  Ufe  of  the  most  impressive 
kind :  in  other  words,  that  we  are  specially  bound  to  a 
life  of  obedience  by  the  consideration  that  we  are  here- 
after to  meet  in  glory  that  Saviour  who  died  for  the  very 
purpose  of  "  redeeming  us  from  all  iniquity,"  and  ren- 
dering us  "  zealous  of  good  works." 

The  passage  which  I  have  read  from  Jude  occurs  in 
connexion  with  an  admonition  to  the  Christians  whom 
he  was  addressing,  to  "  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith 
which  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  As  a  reason 
for  this  admonition  he  proceeds  to  say,  "  There  are  cer- 
tain men  crept  in  unawares,  who  were  before  of  old  or- 
dained to  this  condemnation ;  ungodly  men,  turning  the 
grace  of  our  God  into  lasciviousness  ;"  or  perverting  the 
most  holy  truths  of  the  gospel  to  justify  themselves  in 
the  most  abominable  iniquity. 

The  former  part  of  our  text  presents  to  our  view 
Practical  Christianity :  the  latter  part  of  it,  that  per- 
version of  the  gospel  that  is  commonly  called  Antino- 
mia)iism.  The  design  of  the  discourse  then,  is  to  con- 
trast Practical  Christianity  with  AntinomianisTn. 

The  term  Antinomianis7n,  strictly  speaking,  denotes 
something  contrary  to  the  law.  A  distinct  sect  bearing 
the  name  of  Antinomians  sprang  up  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe  a  little  before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury ;  but  it  was  in  England,  and  during  the  protecto- 
rate of  Cromwell,  that  they  acquired  their  greatest  influ- 
ence, and  were  most  bold  in  inculcating  and  defending 


CONTRASTED   WITH  ANTINOMIANISM  313 

their  principles  of  libertinism.  The  leading  doctrines 
which  they  maintained  were  that,  in  virtue  of  the  obe- 
dience and  sufferings  of  Christ,  the  law  is  abrogated  as 
a  rule  of  action ;  that  no  amount  of  sin  which  they  could 
commit,  could,  in  any  degree,  affect  their  future  well-be- 
ing ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  that  the  elect  should  do 
any  thing  that  is  displeasing  to  God.  I  am  not  aware 
that  the  Antinomians  have  any  existence  at  this  day  as 
a  distinct  sect ;  and  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe  they 
are  scattered  here  and  there  through  almost  every  sect. 
It  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  they  were  so  numerous 
and  formidable  in  Great  Britain,  that  the  celebrated  An- 
drew Fuller  felt  himself  called  upon  to  vindicate  the  gos- 
pel against  their  wretched  and  licentious  perversions  of 
it;  and  he  produced  an  argument  on  that  occasion 
which  ought  to  have  set  them  all  to  looking  out  for  a 
place  in  the  caves  and  dens  of  the  earth.  I  am  inform- 
ed, upon  good  authority,  that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing, 
at  this  day,  to  meet  with  this  heresy  in  its  most  revolting 
form,  in  certain  parts  of  our  own  country  :  and  I  ought 
to  add  that  the  sect  which  have  lately  sprung  up  among 
us  under  the  name  of  Perfectionists,  are  understood  to 
embrace  some  of  the  most  offensive  of  the  Antinomian 
peculiarities.  These  facts,  if  there  were  nothing  beyond 
them,  would  exempt  me,  1  trust,  from  a  liability  to  the 
charge  of  beating  the  air,  in  presenting  this  subject  be- 
fore you  as  a  topick  for  publick  instruction. 

But  I  acknowledge  that  I  should  regard  the  necessity 
for  discussing  this  subject  as  much  less  than  it  now  is,  if 
the  prevalence  of  Antinomian  tendencies  did  not  greatly 
exceed  the  direct  avowal  of  Antinomian  principles. — 
The  truth  is  that,  as  Antinomians  are  to  be  found  scat- 
tered through  almost  every  sect,  so  Antinomianism  com- 
bines itself  as  a  leaven  of  evil  with  almost  every  system, 

27 


314  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

There  are  good  men  who,  with  an  honest  zeal  for  God's 
truth,  suffer  unguarded  expressions  sometimes  to  escape 
them,  which  would  seem  to  imply  that  the  liberty  of  the 
gospel  includes  in  it  a  freedom  from  the  obligations  of 
personal  holiness.  And  so  too  there  are  bad  men  who 
eulogize  the  gospel,  while  they  continue  in  sin;  and 
who  show  clearly  enough^  without  expressing  it  in  words, 
that  they  take  refuge  against  the  accusations  of  con- 
science in  the  reflection  that  they  belong  to  the  number 
of  the  elect,  to  whom,  in  virtue  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
there  remaineth  no  condemnation.  Good  men  may  be- 
come, to  some  extent,  Antinomians  in  theory,  while  yet 
they  love  God's  law  ;  but  it  is  for  bad  men  to  reduce  the 
theory  to  practice,  or  to  exhibit  the  practice  while  they 
professedly  discard  the  theory.  In  the  present  discourse 
I  shall  consider  Antinomianism,  not  in  its  more  obscure 
and  impalpable  forms,  as  connected  with  other  systems, 
but  as  itself  constituting  a  distinct  system ; — ;iust  what 
its  professed  advocates  have  represented  it :  and  in  doing 
so,  I  shall  hope  indirectly  to  aim  a  blow  at  all  the  diver- 
sified tendencies  to  this  form  of  errour. 

By  Practical  Christianity  I  mean  that  system  which 
claims  dominion  over  the  whole  man,  and  suppUes  the 
elements  of  a  new  character;  which  "teaches  us  that, 
denying  ungodliness  and  every  worldly  lust,  we  should 
live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly,  in  this  present 
world ;"  and  that  Christ  "  gave  himself  for  us  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and  purify  unto  him- 
self a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works."  In  short, 
it  is  Evangelical  Christianity  contemplated  in  its  practi- 
cal bearings. 

We  will  contrast  these  two  systems  as  they  stand  re- 
lated to  THE  DISPENSATION  OF  GRACE  : 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  315 

I.  To  THE    MEANS    EMPLOYED  : 

II.  To  THE    ENDS    ACCOMPLISHED. 

I.    To  THE    MEANS    EMPLOYED. 

The  means  employed  in  the  economy  of  grace  may 
be  fairly  inckided  in  the  agency  of  the  Saviour,  and 
the  agency  of  the  sinner  ;  in  other  words,  in  the  medi- 
atorial loork  of  Christy  and  in  a  compliance  with  the 
terms  on  ivhich  its  blessings  are  offered. 

What  then  are  the  bearings  of  these  two  systems  on 
the  mediation  of  Christ  ? 

1.  Antinomianism  contracts  its  irifluence :  Practical 
Christianity  gives  it  an  immeasurable  range. 

What,  upon  the  principles  of  Antinomianism,  does 
the  mediation  of  Christ  accomplish  ?  Does  it  guard  the 
honour  of  the  divine  law  ?  Does  it  harmonize  the  at- 
tributes of  the  divine  character  ?  Does  it  render  God 
more  glorious  in  the  view  of  the  inteUigent  creation  ? — 
Does  it  minister  to  the  happiness  of  other  worlds,  by  open- 
ing up  to  them  a  system  of  moral  beauty  and  grandeur, 
upon  which  they  may  expatiate  with  ever  fresh  delight 
and  ever  growing  advantage  ?  No,  it  does  nothing  of 
all  this ;  it  concerns  itself  only  with  man  ;  and  even  in 
respect  to  him  the  work  which  it  proposes  to  accomplish 
is  but  a  partial  work.  Its  grand  design  is  to  bring  to 
the  heart  a  sense  of  security  ; — to  make  the  sinner  feel 
that  he  is  safe  from  the  threatnings  of  God's  law ;  and 
where  this  conviction  is  once  established, — no  matter  by 
what  means, — the  end  for  which  Christ  lived  and  died 
on  earth,  and  now  reigns  in  Heaven,  is  regarded  as  ac- 
complished. In  the  progress  of  the  discourse,  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  show  that  the  provision  which  the  An- 
tinomian  finds  in  the  mediation  of  Christ  for  the  sinner's 
justification  is  not  only  at  war  with  God's  truth,  but 


316 


PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


subversive  of  the  whole  evangehcal  economy ;  but,  for 
the  present,  I  will  admit,  if  you  please,  notwithstanding 
the  contradiction  which  the  supposition  must  involve, 
that  the  Antinomian  view  of  redemption  provides  for  the 
sinner's  being  completely  justified ; — yet  what  remedial 
provision,  I  ask,  does  it  contemplate,  for  the  great  moral 
disease  of  human  nature?  Man  is  not  only  obnoxious, 
as  an  offender,  to  the  penalty  of  the  divine  law,  but  he 
has  corrupted  his  way  before  God,  and  is  the  subject  of 
a  deep  and  awful  depravity.  Inquire  of  the  Antinomian 
how  this  latter  exigency  is  to  be  met, — how  pollution  is 
to  be  removed,  and  purity  to  come  in  its  place ; — and  if 
he  attempts  to  answer  you,  he  will  probably  say  that  sin 
can  do  him  no  harm ;  or  perhaps  he  may  talk  of  an 
imputed  sanctification,  and  claim  that  Christians  are 
one  with  Christ  in  such  a  sense  that  they  are  perfectly 
holy  in  him,  however  profligate  and  vile  they  may  be 
in  themselves.  The  truth  is  that  the  system  really 
makes  no  provision  for  sanctification ;  and  if  evidence  of 
this  were  wanting  from  other  sources,  it  is  supplied  by 
the  lives  of  most  of  those  who  have  practically  and  tho- 
roughly embraced  it. 

Now  contemplate  the  mediation  of  Christ  in  the  light 
of  Practical  Christianity,  and  see  how  much  more  ex- 
tensive is  the  field  on  which  its  influence  operates.  In 
the  first  place,  it  contemplates  all  the  great  exigencies 
of  human  nature :  while  it  includes  the  necessary  pro- 
vision for  turning  away  the  wrath  of  God,  it  also  looks 
to  the  renovation  of  the  heart :  while  it  secures  a  title  to 
a  holy  Heaven,  it  secures  also  the  qualifications  requisite 
for  enjoying  it.  In  short,  it  meets  man  just  as  he  is, 
and  transforms  him  into  what  he  ought  to  be ;  elevating 
alike  his  character  and  his  destiny.  But  then  it  reaches 
much  farther ; — it  maintains  the  honour  of  God's  law. 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  317 

and  the  harmony  of  his  attributes ;  it  brings  out  the  di- 
vine character  in  brighter  and  lovelier  forms  to  the  view 
of  other  worlds ;  and  while  it  justifies  the  song  of  the 
angels  at  the  Redeemer's  incarnation,  it  constitutes  a 
subject  into  which  the  angels  desire  to  look,  and  in  the 
contemplation  of  which  they  will  advance  from  glory  to 
glory  through  eternity. 

2.  Antinomianism  throws  around  the  mediation  of 
Christ  an  air  of  inconsistency :  Practical  Christianity 
exhibits  it  as  entirely  consistent. 

The  former  renders  it  inconsistent,  the  latter  consistent, 
with  the  moral  government  of  God^  with  itself^  and 
with  Scripture. 

Antinomianism  exhibits  the  mediation  of  Christ  as  at 
war  with  God's  moral  government^  and  even  actually 
subverting  it.  The  law  of  God,  as  it  is  written  on  the 
conscience,  and  as  it  is  more  legibly  and  fully  written  in 
his  word,  is  the  grand  rule,  the  only  rule,  which  he  hsis 
ever  prescribed  to  the  intelligent  creation ;  and  as  this 
has  its  foundation  in  his  own  infinite  perfections,  it  must 
be  at  once  perfect  and  immutable ;  and  of  course,  as  the 
same  Being  is  the  author  both  of  the  law  and  the  gos- 
pel, it  is  impossible  that  the  mediation  of  Christ  which 
constitutes  the  substance  of  the  gospel,  should,  in  the 
least  degree,  impair  the  authority  of  the  law.  But,  upon 
the  principles  of  Antinomianism,  the  very  design  for 
which  Christ  died  was  to  abrogate  the  law  as  a  rule  of 
life ;  and  his  death  was  a  virtual  proclamation  to  at  least 
a  portion  of  his  intelligent  creatures,  that  they  are  ab- 
solved from  the  obligations  of  obedience.  And  hence  it 
is  common  for  Antinomians,  taking  shelter  under  a  sad 
perversion  of  Scripture,  to  speak  of  the  moral  law  as  a 
yoke, — a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne,— and  of  those 
who  acknowledge  it,  as  being  in  a  state  of  ignoble  bond- 
27* 


318  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

age, — thus  virtually  imputing  injustice  and  tyranny  to 
the  Lawgiver.  And  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that 
they  generally  evince  as  little  regard  for  the  law  in  their 
lives  as  by  their  lips ;  and  even  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
high  handed  rebellion  against  God,  they  sometimes  tri- 
umphantly point  to  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  price  of 
their  liberty  to  continue  in  sin.  Upon  their  system, 
Christ,  instead  of  honouring  the  law,  gained  a  victory 
over  it ;  and  in  his  mediation  we  contemplate  nothing 
less  than  a  conflict  between  grace  and  justice,  in  which 
the  former  came  off  triumphant,  and  the  latter  was 
trampled  in  the  dust.  As  God's  law  is  the  basis  of  his 
moral  administration,  and  as  the  Antinomian  view  of 
Christ's  mediatorial  work  goes  to  set  that  law  aside,  I 
ask  whether  God  the  moral  Governour  and  Christ  the 
Redeemer  are  not  hereby  represented  as  having  conflict- 
ing interests ;  and  whether,  upon  this  principle,  the 
claims  of  the  former  have  not  been  yielded  in  a  manner 
that  is  equivalent  to  yielding  up  the  throne  of  the  uni- 
verse ? 

Practical  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibits  the 
mediation  of  Christ  as  in  perfect  harmony  with  God's 
moral  government ;  nay,  as  vindicating  its  claims  and 
sustaining  its  interests.  The  violated  law  makes  its  de- 
mand upon  the  sinner  for  the  blood  of  his  soul ;  and 
Christ  interposes  to  save  him  from  the  curse,  and  exalt 
him  to  glory  and  honour.  The  grand  obstacle  which 
lay  in  the  way  of  the  sinner's  salvation  was  the  disho- 
nour which  had  been  done  to  the  law :  this  dishonour 
Christ  undertakes  to  retrieve,  actually  does  retrieve,  by 
his  obedience  and  death ;  thus  honouring  the  law,  in 
his  mediatorial  capacity,  both  in  its  penalty  and  its  pre- 
cept. In  consequence  of  his  interposition,  God  can  now 
be  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly :  the  sinner 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  319 

can  be  saved,  and  yet  the  honours  of  the  law  remain 
■  inviolate.  Nay,  I  venture  to  say  that  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  on  the  principles  of  Practical  Christianity,  sheds 
new  lustre  upon  the  law  ;  for  it  is  an  open  declaration 
to  the  universe  that  there  was  no  sacrifice  which  God 
deemed  too  expensive  to  make  for  its  preservation. — 
Does  the  Christian  then,  when  he  looks  at  the  cross,  feel 
his  sense  of  obligation  to  the  law  grow  weaker,  and  is 
he  ready  to  plead  for  his  continuance  in  sin  that  grace 
may  abound  7  So  far  from  it  that  the  majesty  of  the 
law  never  appears  to  him  so  great,  or  its  claims  so  im- 
perative, or  his  transgression  of  it  so  criminal,  as  when 
he  contemplates  it  in  that  very  sacrifice  which  is  design- 
ed to  deliver  him  from  its  curse. 

Antinomianism  farther  exhibits  the  mediation  of 
Christ  as  inconsistent  with  itself.  The  Antinomian,  in 
common  with  all  others  who  acknowledge  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  professes  to  regard  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ  as  involving  only  a  benevolent  instrumentahty : 
but  if  the  view  which  he  takes  of  the  law  be  correct,  it 
surely  involves  more  of  cruelty  than  benevolence.  For 
he  regards  the  law  as  despotick  in  its  claims :  he  consi- 
ders it  desirable  to  be  free  from  them  ;  and  he  triumphs 
in  a  professed  assurance  that  the  gospel  has  made  him 
free.  If  such  then  be  the  character  of  the  law,  justice 
required  that  it  should  have  been  repealed :  and  it  was 
not  only  unjust  but  cruel  that  such  a  mighty  sacrifice 
should  have  been  required  in  order  to  avert  the  threat- 
ened punishment.  I  say  then  that  the  Antinomian  view 
of  the  mediation  of  Christ  involves  a  gross  self-contra- 
diction :  it  compliments  that  as  a  benevolent  measure 
which,  after  all,  was  the  most  unrighteous  and  arbitrary 
infliction  which  the  universe  ever  witnessed. 


320  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

Moreover,  the  mediation  of  Christ,  upon  this  sys- 
tem, becomes  self-contradictory,  inasmuch  as  it  pro- 
fesses to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  sinner,  while  it 
leaves  the  elements  of  misery  in  his  bosom.  What  is  it, 
think  you,  that  constitutes  Hell  ?  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say  how  much  of  torture  there  may  be  growing  out  of 
the  external  circumstances  in  which  the  sinner  may  be 
placed ;  but,  rely  on  it,  he  carries  about  with  him  in  his 
corrupt  nature  the  materials  for  an  undying  agony. — 
There  is  that  within  him,  which,  if  not  arrested,  will 
rankle,  and  rage,  and  subject  him  to  inward  torture,  so 
long  as  he  has  a  being.  Now  Antinomianism  sees  in 
the  mediation  of  Christ  provision  for  the  sinner's  safety, 
while  yet  it  recognises  no  adequate  provision  for  remov- 
ing the  only  cause  of  his  danger.  It  pronounces  him 
free  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  yet  leaves  him  under  the 
tyranny  of  his  corrupt  incHnations.  Suppose  I  were 
languishing  under  the  power  of  some  fatal  disease ;  and 
a  physician  were  to  stand  up  before  me  and  declare  that 
I  was  perfectly  secure  from  all  future  suffering,  while 
yet  he  did  nothing  to  arrest  my  malady  ; — should  I  not 
have  reason  to  say  that  he  was  trifling  with  my  misery ; 
that  his  declaration  that  I  was  secure  from  suffering,  and 
his  conduct  in  leaving  my  disease  to  take  its  course,  in- 
volved a  palpable  contradiction  ?  But  no  greater  con- 
tradiction surely  than  the  mediation  of  Christ  involves, 
provided  it  declares  the  sinner  free  from  the  consequences 
of  his  sins,  while  yet  it  leaves  him  the  subject  of  an  in- 
herent pollution. 

Practical  Christianity  imparts  to  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  in  both  these  respects,  a  beautiful  self-consistency. 
While  she  regards  it  as  a  scheme  of  the  highest  benevo- 
lence, she  contemplates  the  law  as  of  such  paramount 
importance  to  the  interests  of  the  universe,  and  as  so 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  321 

embodying  the  perfections  of  its  all-wise  Author,  that 
she  sees  no  injustice  in   maintaining  it  even  at  such 
mighty  expense ;  especially  as  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son 
of  God  was  perfectly  voluntary,  and  was  made  in  view 
of  the  glory  that  should  follow.     And  then  again,  she 
views  the  mediation  of  Christ  as  a  thoroughly  remedial 
system  ;— as  not  merely  pronouncing  the  sinner  safe,  but 
as  actually  securing  his  safety  upon   the  best  of  all 
grounds;  as  not  merely  declaring  him  an  heir  of  Heaven 
while  yet  the  elements  of  Hell  are  in  his  soul,  but  in 
forming  within  him  the  temper  of  Heaven,  and  thus 
giving  him  an  inward  and  rational  pledge  of  future  glo- 
ry.    She  knows  nothing  of  that  wretched  mockery  of 
human  hopes  which  separates  the  justifying  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  from  the  sanctifying  influence  of  his  Spi- 
rit ; — the  security  of  the  sinner  before  God  from  that 
«  hohness  without  which"  the  Apostle  declares  that  "  no 
one  can  see  the  Lord." 

I  observe,  once  more,  under  this  head,  that  Antinomi- 
anism  exhibits  the  mediation  of  Christ  as  inconsistent, 
Practical  Christianity  as  consistent,  with  the  whole  te- 
nour  of  the  word  of  God.  The  prophet  Isaiah,  ages 
before  the  Messiah's  advent,  predicted  of  him  that  He 
should  "  magnify  the  law  and  make  it  honourable."— 
And  when  he  actually  appeared,  he  held  such  decisive 
language  as  the  following:— "Think  not  that  1  am 
come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets ;  I  am  not  come 
to  destroy  but  to  fulfill.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till 
Heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no 
wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  What  pur- 
pose do  the  Scriptures  represent  Christ  as  accomplishing 
in  his  prophetical  character?  The  Apostle  declares 
that  "  the  grace  of  God  hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teach- 
ing us,  that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we 


322 


PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 


should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly,  in  this  present 
world."  What  is  the  great  end  which  they  connect 
with  his  priestly  office  ?  The  Apostle  in  the  same  con- 
nexion supplies  the  answer :  He  "  gave  himself  for  us 
that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works." 
And  wherefore  is  it  that  they  exliibit  him  as  "  Head 
over  all  things  to  the  church;"  as  having  "  ascended  up 
on  high,  led  captivity  captive,  and  given  gifts  unto  men  ?" 
It  is  "  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints," — "  for  the  edify- 
ing of  the  body  of  Christ ;"  in  other  words,  for  conform- 
ing them  to  the  perfect  standard  of  God's  law.  Such 
is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  in  re- 
spect to  the  design  and  influence  of  Christ's  mediation  : 
and  now  I  ask  you  whether  this  testimony  is  not  in  per- 
fect accordance  with  the  views  of  Practical  Christianity ; 
whether  it  is  not  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  views  of 
Antinomianism  ?  If  you  wished  to  say,  in  the  most 
unequivocal  language  you  could  command,  that  Christ's 
mediation  was  designed  to  honour  the  law,  and  to  en- 
force the  duty,  as  well  as  cherish  the  spirit,  of  obedience, 
1  ask  here,  as  on  a  former  occasion,  could  you  possibly 
find  language  that  would  be  less  liable  to  exception  than 
that  which  God's  word  supplies  ? 

3.  Antinomianism  represents  Christ  in  his  mediato- 
rial character  as  the  Qninister  of  sin  :  Practical  Chris- 
tianity, as  the  minister  of  holiness. 

It  is  part  of  the  creed  of  the  Antinomian,  not  merely 
that  the  guilt  of  the  elect  was  reckoned  as  Christ's,  but 
that  it  actually  became  his  ;  that  there  was  a  literal 
transfer  to  his  person  of  all  the  sins  which  they  ever 
have  committed,  or  ever  shall  commit ;  and  that,  in  this 
sense,  "  he  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  upon  the  tree." 
It  is  impossible,  upon  this  supposition,  to  avoid  the  idea 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  323 

that  Christ  is  the  greatest  sinner  in  the  universe.  And 
besides,  what,  upon  this  principle,  is  the  tendency  of  his 
work,  but  to  release  men  from  the  obligation  to  holiness, 
and  of  course  to  throw  open  the  floodgates  of  crime. — 
Only  let  the  conviction  be  thoroughly  established  in  the 
mind  of  a  sinner  that  he  is  one  of  the  elect,  and  that  sin 
can  do  him  no  harm, — that  the  influence  of  Christ's 
mediation  secures  his  safety  irrespective  of  his  character, 
and  he  has  for  the  time  a  complete  opiate  to  his  con- 
science ;  and  you  are  not  to  wonder  if  his  corrupt  pro- 
pensities rise  fiercely  into  action,  and  betray  a  giant's 
strength. 

Practical  Christianity  indeed  recognises  Christ  as 
"  bearing  our  sins,"  but  in  a  sense  far  different  from  that 
to  which  I  have  just  adverted.  She  contemplates  the 
Saviour  as  perfectly  holy  in  his  human  nature ;  as  infi- 
nitely holy  in  his  divine  nature ;  and  as  losing  nothing 
of  his  hoHness  in  the  assumption  of  the  mediatorial  of- 
fice. She  contemplates  him  as  bearing  the  burden  of  a 
world's  atonement,  and  yet  being  a  perfectly  innocent 
sufferer ;  as  submitting  to  be  treated  as  if  he  were  guilty, 
while  yet  he  was  so  holy  as  to  deserve  and  receive  the 
homage  of  angels.  And  the  purpose  for  which  he  hum- 
bled himself  on  earth  and  for  which  he  is  exalted  in 
Heaven,  she  regards  as  a  perfectly  holy  purpose : — no- 
thing less  than  to  sustain  the  great  and  holy  interests  of 
the  divine  government,  and  to  render  men  holy,  accord- 
ing 10  their  measure,  even  as  God  is  holy.  Is  it  not  true 
then  that,  while  Antinomianism  degrades  the  Saviour  in 
his  mediatorial  character  by  making  him  the  minister  of 
sin,  Practical  Christianity  exalts  him  by  making  him, 
not  the  minister  of  grace  only,  but  of  holiness  also  ? 

Such  are  the  bearings  of  the  two  systems  on  one  great 
part  of  the  instrumentahty  employed  in  the  dispensation 


324  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

of  grace.  We  will  now  see  how  they  stand  related  to  a 
humbler  part  of  the  same  instrumentahty, — viz,  marHs 
compliance  with  the  terms  on  w^hich  the  blessings  of 
the  new  covenant  are  secured  to  him. 

And  here  I  remark  in  general  that  Antinomianism 
leaves  the  sinner  nearly  passive  in  the  work  of  his  salva- 
tion, while  Practical  Christianity  calls  him  to  vigorous 
and  persevering  effort.  If  you  exhort  the  Antinomian 
to  awake  to  his  duty  previous  to  the  time  when  he  sup- 
poses his  justification  to  have  been  made  manifest  to  him, 
he  calmly  replies  that  there  is  nothing  for  him  to  do;  for 
if  he  is  one  of  the  elect,  the  whole  work  of  his  salvation 
has  already  been  accomplished  by  Christ ;  and  if  he  is 
not  one  of  the  elect,  nothing  that  he  can  do  can  change 
his  condition  for  the  better.  And  even  after  he  professes 
to  have  received  the  assurance  of  his  election,  he  has 
still  the  same  plea,  that  Christ's  work  is  a  finished 
work,  and  that  to  suppose  he  could  render  it  more  perfect 
were  alike  arrogant  and  impious ;  and  as  for  good  works, 
they  savour  so  much  of  a  legal  spirit,  that  he  is  kept 
from  the  performance  of  them  both  by  his  principles  and 
his  dispositions.  Accordingly,  wherever  you  find  a  tho- 
rough going  Antinomian,  you  will  find  a  person  who 
does  Httle  for  the  spiritual  interests  either  of  himself  or 
of  others ;  and  his  system  supplies  him  with  an  apology 
for  being  passive;  for  if  there  is  nothing  to  do,  he  surely 
is  justified  in  doing  nothing. 

But  Practical  Christianity  has  no  communion  with  a 
spirit  of  indolence.  Her  language  is — "  Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  straight  gate."  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling."  "  Labour — for  the  meat  that 
endureth  to  everlasting  life."  "  Give  diligence  to  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure."  And  these  injunctions 
she  enforces  by  the  most  impressive  and  affecting  consi- 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         325 

derations.  Nor  are  these  considerations  unavailing ;  for 
every  Practical  Christian  is  an  active  Christian :  he  was 
active  in  first  consecrating  himself  to  God ;  he  is  still 
active  in  cultivating  the  principle  of  piety  in  his  own 
heartj  and  in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  his  fellow 
men ;  nor  does  he  expect  to  be  free  either  from  labour  or 
conflict  so  long  as  he  is  in  the  body.  Practical  Chris- 
tianity detracts  nothing  from  the  Redeemer's  merit;  she 
recognises  his  death  as  the  price,  and  the  whole  price,  of 
man's  salvation;  but,  at  the  same  time,  she  contemplates 
man  as  a  moral  and  responsible  agent,  and  even  sus- 
pends his  salvation  on  a  compliance  with  the  terms  she 
has  proposed  to  him. 

But  let  us  contemplate  a  little  in  detail  some  of  the 
Christian  graces  and  virtues,  as  they  appear  respectively 
in  the  light  of  the  two  systems. 

1.  Antinomianism  recognises  no  grounds,  and  sup- 
flies  no  motives,  for  true  repe7itance :  Practical  Chris- 
tianity does  both. 

Repentance  supposes  transgression;  and  transgression 
takes  for  granted  the  existence  of  a  law.  Where  there 
is  no  law,  transgression  is  of  course  impossible.  Or  if 
the  law  be  unreasonable  and  unjust,  so  far  the  violation 
of  it  is  not  sin.  Or  if  it  have  been  repealed  and  its  au- 
thority set  aside,  however  just  it  may  be  in  itself,  it  has 
lost  its  claims  upon  our  obedience,  and  ceases  to  be  a 
rule  of  duty.  Now,  inasmuch  as  Antinomianism  en- 
tirely abolishes  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  so  far  as  respects 
believers,  it  is  manifestly  impossible,  upon  this  ground, 
that  they  should  ever  exercise  true  repentance ;  for  the 
reason  already  mentioned,  that,  where  there  is  no  law, 
there  is  no  transgression ;  and  where  there  is  no  trans- 
gression, there  is  no  foundation  for  repentance. 

28 


326  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

And  as  the  view  which  the  Antinomian  takes  of  the 
divine  law  leaves  no  ground  for  repentance  so  far  as 
believers  are  concerned,  so  also  the  view  which  he  takes 
of  the  impotence  of  the  sinner,  and  of  the  liberty  of  the 
Christian,  leaves  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  with  any 
motives  to  repentance.  To  the  sinner  he  virtually  de- 
nies the  powers  of  a  moral  agent,  and  will  have  it  that 
he  is  moved  only  as  a  machine,  and  that  all  he  can  do 
and  all  he  is  required  to  do,  is  to  wait  passively  for  the 
putting  forth  of  an  almighty  hand.  Now  I  ask  whether 
this  doctrine  does  not  completely  annihilate  every  mo- 
tive to  true  repentance  on  the  part  of  the  sinner? — 
For  even  though  he  might  feel  that  the  greatest  possible 
blessings  were  connected  with  it,  and  that  it  were  most 
desirable  to  him  to  repent,  yet  surely  the  conviction  that 
he  was  dependant  in  such  a  sense  that  any  efforts  he 
might  make  in  the  case  would  not  vary  the  result,  would 
be  a  reason,  and  if  the  conviction  were  well  founded, 
a  good  reason,  why  he  should  attempt  nothing.  And 
as  for  the  believer,  the  liberty  into  which  he  is  supposed 
to  be  brought  by  the  gospel,  as  it  precludes  the  possibili- 
ty of  repentance,  though  on  a  different  ground  from  that 
just  adverted  to,  denies  also  the  necessity  of  it :  of  course 
there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  motive  for  its  exercise.  Ac- 
cordingly you  see  nothing  like  the  workings  of  true 
godly  sorrow  among  this  class  :  and  no  doubt  it  is  their 
aversion  from  the  practice  that  predisposes  and  prepares 
them  for  the  rejection  of  the  doctrine. 

Practical  Christianity  at  once  presents  the  most  solid 
grounds  for  repentance,  and  supphes  the  most  powerful 
motives  to  it.  She  contemplates  the  law  as  binding 
alike  upon  believers  and  unbelievers ;  and  in  every  vio- 
lation of  it,  whether  in  the  one  class  or  the  other,  she 
sees  matter  for  repentance.     When  the  Antinomian 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         327 

claims  that  the  beUever  is  absolved  from  obligation  to 
the  law,  Practical  Christianity  asks  in  reply,  from  which 
of  all  the  commandments  a  good  man  would  wish  to  be 
absolved ;  which  of  them  is  a  burden  to  a  tmly  pious 
soul ;  which  of  them  could  be  dispensed  with  without 
sacrificing  the  interests  of  human  society  ?  She  asks 
again,  if  believers  are  not  under  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life, 
how  it  is  that  they  are  represented  in  God's  word  as 
daily  committing  sin  ;  how  it  is  that  they  are  exhorted 
to  love  one  another  from  a  regard  to  the  law ;  and  how 
it  is  that  Christ  declared  his  purpose  to  establish  the  law, 
without  intimating  that  there  was  one  great  class  to 
which  its  authority  did  not  reach  ?  And  as  the  obliga- 
tion to  repentance  arises  out  of  the  obligation  to  obedi- 
ence, and  as  the  obedience  of  the  believer  is  at  best  im- 
perfect and  interrupted,  Practical  Christianity  sees  good 
grounds,  even  in  respect  to  the  best  of  men,  for  deep  and 
habitual  repentance. 

And  as  for  the  motives  which  she  presents  to  the  dis- 
charge of  this  duty, — nothing  could  be  more  urgent  or  im- 
pressive. There  is  the  express  command  of  God  requiring 
repentance.  There  is  the  penalty  of  the  law,  compre- 
hending a  depth  of  wo,  which  no  finite  mind  can  fathom, 
that  lies  against  all  sin  that  is  unrepented  of;  and  if 
you  say  that  this  cannot  be  a  motive  with  the  true  Chris- 
tian, inasmuch  as  he  has  been  delivered  from  the  curse, 
I  answer  that,  just  in  proportion  as  he  yields  to  trans- 
gression, he  has  reason  to  doubt  his  claim  to  the  Chris- 
tian character.  There  is  the  encouraging  assurance 
that  one  of  the  great  purposes  of  the  Redeemer's  exalta- 
tion is  that  he  may  "give  repentance  to  Israel  and  re- 
mission of  sins."  And  more  than  all,  the  view  which 
Practical  Christianity  presents  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ, 
endured  for  the  expiation  of  sins  which  are  truly  and 


328  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

properly  ours,  makes  ihe  strongest  appeal  to  whatever  is 
tender  and  ingenuous  in  human  nature ;  and  the  heart 
that  relents  not — breaks  not,  when  this  view  is  present- 
ed, is  more  unimpressible  than  the  flinty  rock. 

2.  Antinomianism  represents  faith  in  Christ  as  a 
mere  iinaccoimtahle  impression :  Practical  Christiani- 
ty, as  a  rational  exercise. 

What,  in  the  view  of  the  Antinomian,  constitutes  the 
object  of  saving  faith  1  It  is  the  simple  proposition  that 
he  is  one  of  the  elect,  and  that  Christ  died  for  him  in 
particular.  But  surely  he  does  not  find  this  in  the  w^ord 
of  God :  for  that  promises  eternal  life  only  to  a  class 
possessing  a  certain  character ;  and  an  individual,  before 
he  can  appropriate  the  promise,  must  be  conscious  that 
the  character  belongs  to  him.  Upon  what  grounds  then 
is  this  proposition  received?  Is  it  possible  that  it  is  in 
every  case,  or  in  any  case,  a  matter  of  direct  revelation? 
So  I  suppose  the  Antinomian  will  say ;  but  who  beside 
himself  will  believe  it  ?  For  this  supposition  necessarily 
involves  the  conclusion  that  the  Revelation  which  God 
has  given  us  is  imperfect ;  and  that  in  every  conversion 
that  takes  place  something  is  added  to  the  sum  of  the 
divine  revelations,  which  the  Spirit  hath  long  since  pro- 
nounced complete.  But  if  there  be  no  direct  revelation 
of  this  fact  to  the  mind  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  then  surely 
the  Antinomian's  faith  is  nothing  better  than  an  airy  fan- 
cy. The  thought  comes  over  him  that  he  is  one  of  the 
elect,  and  straightway  he  believes  that  he  is  one  of  the 
elect ;  and  \\\i\\  no  better  evidence  of  the  fact  than  is 
furnished  by  this  waking  dream,  he  steadily  perseveres 
in  the  belief  of  it ;  and  if  conscience  sometimes  wakens 
within  liim  gloomy  apprehensions^  he  regards  them  as 
the  temptations  of  the  adversary  who  is  ever  watchful 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         329 

to  interrupt  his  peace,  and  thus  throws  the  inward  moni- 
tor back  into  as  deep  a  lethargy  as  ever. 

Very  different  is  the  view  of  faith  as  it  is  presented  by 
Practical  Christianity.  The  object  of  it  is  revealed 
truth ; — the  great  truth  that  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  This 
truth,  while  it  is  so  clear  that  none  need  mistake  it,  bears 
the  unequivocal  seal  of  God's  authority.  In  receiving 
it  therefore,  the  Practical  Christian  acts  in  accordance 
with  the  dictates  of  Reason ;  for  what  higher  evidence 
can  be  presented  of  any  truth  than  the  testimony  of 
God  ?  But  faith  is  not  mere  intellectual  assent ;  it  in- 
volves a  personal  reliance  on  Christ  for  salvation ;  for 
"  with  the  heart,'  says  the  Apostle,  '  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness  ;"  and  how  reasonable  is  it,  how  entirely 
in  accordance  with  the  moral  constitution  of  man,  that 
the  truths  which  the  mind  receives  should  exert  an  influ- 
ence upon  the  affections.  Whether  therefore  faith  be 
considered  in  reference  to  the  intellect  or  the  heart,  in 
respect  to  its  nature  or  its  object,  you  cannot  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  a  rational  exercise; 
an  exercise  worthy  both  of  our  intellectual  and  moral 
nature. 

3.  Antinomianism  represents  love  to  God  as  nothing 
better  than  mere  favouritism  in  view  of  our  being 
his  supposed  favourites:  Practical  Christianity  con- 
templates  it  as  a  high  and  holy^  and,  in  one  sejise, 
disinterested,  affection. 

The  Antinomian  scarcely  contemplates  God  in  any 
other  view  than  as  his  personal  Benefactor.  His  charac- 
ter as  a  moral  Governour,  as  we  have  already  seen,  he 
completely  loses  sight  of;  and  his  thoughts  concerning 
him  even  as  an  all-gracious  Father,  and  an  all-compas- 
28* 


330  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

sionate  Redeemer,  are  few  and  unimpressive,  except 
as  they  relate  to  the  regards  which  He  is  supposed 
to  exercise  toward  himself.  He  loves  God  not  for  what 
he  is,  but  solely  for  what  he  has  done ;  not  for  what  he 
has  done  for  the  world,  but  for  having  made  himself  his 
peculiar  favourite.  Thus  the  love  which  he  bears  to 
the  divine  Being  is  entirely  independent  of  his  essential 
character. 

But  the  Practical  Christian,  while  he  regards  God  as 
an  infinite  Benefactor,  and  cherishes  the  most  devout 
gratitude  towards  him  for  his  numberless  favours,  regards 
him  also  as  the  Benefactor  of  other  beings  and  of  other 
worlds ;  and  more  than  that,  as  the  infinitely  holy  God, 
the  fountain  of  all  moral  excellence ;  and  in  this  latter 
view  of  his  character  particularly  he  feels  the  most  cor- 
dial complacency.  He  can  appropriate  the  language  of 
inspiration  in  its  legitimate  import,  and  say,  "  O  magni- 
fy the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt  his  name  together !" 
Apart  from  all  the  blessings  he  receives  from  God,  and 
all  the  relations  he  sustains  to  him, — nay,  apart  from  all 
the  relations  which  Jehovah  sustains  to  the  universe,  he 
delights  in  contemplating  his  absolute  perfections :  he 
has  an  eye  to  discern  the  beauty  of  holiness,  as  well  as 
a  heart  to  receive  the  impression  of  gratitude. 

4.  Antinomianism  represents  love  to  man  as  the 
operation  of  a  m^ere  selfish  spirit:  Practical  Chris- 
tianity, as  the  operation  of  an  expansive  good  will,  or 
of  a  cordial  complacency  in  moral  excellence. 

Toward  the  mass  of  the  world  Antinomianism  does  not 
even  profess  any  benevolent  regard.  It  sees  the  multi- 
tude thronging  the  way  to  death ;  but  it  never  puts  forth 
a  hand  to  arrest  them,  because  it  is  only  a  divine  agency 
that  is  adequate  to  the  work.  It  has  no  prayers  to  oflfer 
in  their  behalf,  lest  peradventure  it  should  be  found  to 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  331 

have  made  intercession  for  those  whom  God  has  deter- 
mined to  pass  by.  It  has  no  tears  to  shed  over  their 
ruin,  because  it  has  been  decreed  by  God,  and  it  is  not 
for  them  to  weep,  but  to  rejoice,  in  the  accomplishment 
of  his  purposes.  Hence  it  is  not  uncommon  for  them 
to  speak  not  only  with  perfect  calmness,  but  with  mani- 
fest exultation,  of  the  perdition  that  awaits  the  ungodly : 
and  as  for  those  who  venture  to  oppose  their  system,  they 
are  looked  upon  with  contempt  and  treated  with  abuse 
and  scurrility.  And  even  the  love  which  this  system 
inspires  toward  Christians  as  such,  is  nothing  better 
than  mere  attachment  to  party :  it  is  not  the  image  of 
Christ  which  draws  forth  their  affections,  but  the  image 
of  themselves; — a  supposed  agreement  with  them  in 
their  peculiar  opinions.  And  the  tie  which  actually 
binds  them  together  is  not  so  strong,  but  that  it  often 
breaks  amidst  the  collisions  of  personal  interest ;  and 
they  who  claim  to  be  the  special  favourites  of  God  treat 
each  other  as  if  they  had  entirely  forfeited  the  confidence 
of  their  fellow  men. 

Practical  Christianity  looks  with  a  spirit  of  benevo- 
lence upon  all  men.  To  decide  whether  she  shall  deal 
out  bread  to  the  hungry  and  raiment  to  the  naked,  or 
perform  any  other  kind  office  toward  the  children  of 
want,  she  never  inquires  to  what  denomination  they  be- 
long other  than  the  denomination  of  the  wretched. — 
And  the  moral  ruin  of  man  she  contemplates  with  deep 
and  active  concern.  She  believes  indeed  most  fully  that 
none  will  finally  be  saved,  except  those  whom  God  "did 
predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son;" 
but  then  she  remembers  that  God's  secret  purpose  is  not 
her  rule  of  action,  and  she  offers  up  her  prayers  and  puts 
forth  her  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  indiscrimi- 
nately, with  as  much  interest  and  as  much  earnestness 


332  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

as  if  the  doctrine  of  election  had  never  been  revealed. 
Did  not  the  Apostle  declare  in  the  very  epistle  in  which 
he  has  most  triumphantly  vindicated  this  doctrine,  that 
his  "  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel'  was, 
^  that  they  might  be  saved  ?"  And  did  not  a  greater 
than  Paul,  even  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  weep  in 
view  of  the  approaching  ruin  of  a  city,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  had  nearly  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  ini- 
quity? This  is  the  genuine  spirit  of  Practical  Chris- 
tianity :  she  weeps  for  misery  as  such ;  and  she  would 
not  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to 
repentance.  And  while  her  benevolent  regards  go  forth 
toward  all  men,  her  affections  centre  with  pecuhar 
warmth  upon  the  true  disciples  of  Christ ;  for  in  them 
she  sees  reflected  the  Redeemer's  image.  Tell  her  that 
even  an  enemy  is  experiencing  sufferings  which  it  is  in 
her  power  to  reUeve,  and  instantly  she  is  on  the  alert  to 
impart  her  sympathy  and  aid.  Let  her  see  the  least 
trace  of  moral  excellence  in  a  fellow  creature,  and  though 
it  be  associated  with  ever  so  much  of  external  degrada- 
tion, there  is  a  chord  in  her  heart  which  instinctively 
vibrates  at  the  discovery.  Is  not  the  spirit  of  Practical 
Christianity  the  spirit  of  angels?  Is  not  the  temper 
which  Antinomianism  cherishes,  worthy  of  the  fiends 
of  darkness? 

Such  are  the  bearings  of  Practical  Christianity  and 
Antinomianism  upon  the  means  employed  in  the  dispen- 
sation of  grace.  We  proceed  now  to  contrast  them  as 
they  stand  related  to 

II.  The  ends  accomplished. 

I  am  well  aware  that  both  Reason  and  Scripture  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  mediatorial  dispensation  reach- 
es in  its  influence  much  beyond  our  present  hmited  con- 
ceptions ;  that  it  accomplishes  many  great  and  lofty  ends 


CONTRASTED     WITH    ANT  I NOM I  AN  ISM.  333 

in  the  divine  government  which  will  be  revealed  to  us 
when  our  faculties  shall  have  reached  a  higher  maturi- 
ty ;  and  that  other  worlds  than  our  own  are  destined  to 
rejoice  in  it  forever,  if  not  as  a  remedial  system  for  them- 
selves, yet  as  a  medium  of  the  richest  divine  manifesta- 
tion. I  shall  limit  myself,  however,  on  the  present  oc- 
casion, to  a  brief  view  of  the  hapjnness  of  man  and 
the  glory  of  God,  as  the, great  ends  which  are  proposed 
and  accomplished  by  the  economy  of  grace. 

What  then  are  the  bearings  of  these  systems  upon 
the  happiness  of  man  7 

1.  Antinomianism  is  uiifriendly  to  human  happi- 
ness, as  it  makes  no  adequate  jjrovisioyi  for  the  legiti- 
mate exercise  of  the  facidties :  Practical  Christianity 
favours  it,  hy  making  fill  j)Tovisio7i  for  their  exer- 
cise. 

It  results  from  the  constitution  which  God  has  given 
us  that  a  state  of  inaction  is  inconsistent  with  a  state  of 
real  enjoyment.  These  noble  faculties  were  designed  to 
be  employed  ;  and  he  who  suffers  the  rust  that  is  induced 
by  a  habit  of  indolence  to  come  over  them,  as  he  con- 
travenes the  design  of  his  Creator,  of  course  makes  war 
upon  his  own  happiness.  But  it  is  not  enough,  in  order 
to  secure  our  enjoyment,  that  our  faculties  should  be  em- 
ployed ;  they  must  be  legitimately  employed; — em- 
ployed upon  suitable  objects  and  in  a  proper  manner. — ■ 
If  the  sluggard  who  is  always  caUing  out  for  "  a  little 
more  slumber,  a  little  more  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep," 
finds  nothing  in  his  experience  that  deserves  the  name 
of  happiness,  surely  the  wretch  who  is  active  in  doing 
mischief,  who  perverts  his  faculties  to  the  injury  of  his 
fellow  men  and  his  own  ultimate  ruin,  must  be  still 
more  remote  from  any  thing  like  true  enjoyment.  But 
a  habit  of  well  directed  activity  renders  an  individual 


334  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

happy  ill  any  circumstances.  It  furnishes  an  anti- 
dote against  many  of  the  evils  of  hfe ;  especially  those 
.  which  result  from  idleness  and  crime.  It  preserves  the 
faculties  in  a  vigorous  and  healthful  state.  It  keeps  the 
conscience  void  of  offence.  In  a  word,  it  exalts  man's 
whole  nature,  and  draws  down  upon  him  the  special 
blessing  of  Almighty  God. 

Now  we  have  already  seeu  that  it  is  the  tendency  of 
Antinomianism  to  make  man  feel  that  he  has  nothing 
to  do,  or  else  to  encourage  him  to  do  wrong ;  while  Prac- 
tical Christianity  sets  before  him  a  mighty  work,  and 
supphes  the  most  powerful  considerations  to  induce  him 
to  engage  in  it :  nay,  she  actually  brings  his  faculties 
mto  vigorous  exercise,  and  keeps  him  activ^e  in  doing 
God's  will  so  long  as  he  is  in  the  body.  It  results  of 
course  from  the  laws  of  our  nature  that  the  latter  system 
is  favourable,  the  former,  unfavourable,  to  human  hap- 
piness. Behold  the  Antinomian  folding  his  arms  and 
pleading  that  he  has  nothing  to  do;  or  else  boldly  com- 
mitting iniquity,  and  pleading  that  nothing  that  he  can 
do,  as  one  of  God's  elect,  is  to  be  considered  sinful !  Be- 
hold the  Practical  Christian  labouring  with  persevering 
diligence ; — not  only  working  out  his  own  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling,  but  forming  and  executing  great  and 
noble  designs  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  his  fellow 
men !  See  how  he  clings  to  God's  law  as  a  rule  of  ac- 
tion, and  how  cheerfully  he  denies  himself  and  takes  up 
the  cross,  rather  than  abandon  it ;  and  then  judge  for 
yourself  which  of  these  two  is  the  more  happy  man. — 
Is  it  the  drone  who  is  at  home  only  upon  his  pillow, — 
the  wretch  who  is  at  home  only  in  scenes  of  crime ;  or 
is  it  not  rather  he  who  is  at  home  in  the  walks  of  self- 
denied  activity  and  honourable  usefulness  ? 


CONTRASTED     WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         335 

2.  Antinomianism  leaves  in  the  human  bosom  the 
sources  of  unhappiness  that  naturally  belong  to  m^a?i 
as  a  sinner:  Practical  Christianity  removes  them. 

The  inward  sources  of  misery  to  which  I  here  refer 
are  a  corrupt  nature  and  a  guilty  conscience ;  and  so 
long  as  the  one  is  unsanctified  and  the  other  unpacified, 
it  is  impossible  that  true  happiness  should  dwell  in  the 
heart.  Tell  me,  ye  who  can  speak  from  experience, 
what  more  gaUing  yoke  ye  could  come  under  than  that 
of  your  own  corrupt  inclinations?  Let  the  sensualist 
say  if  there  is  not  misery  from  the  prevalence  of  his  un- 
bridled appetites,  whether  he  is  permitted  to  gratify  them 
or  not.  Let  the  man  who  yields  to  a  revengeful  and 
malignant  temper  say  whether  he  does  not  sometimes 
find  not  merely  a  tempest,  but  a  hell,  within  his  bosom. 
And  let  the  creature  of  habitual  selfishness  say  whether 
the  indulgence  of  this  spirit  does  not  often  make  him 
wretched  ;  and  whether  it  is  not  incompatible  with  that 
enjoyment  which  his  judgment  and  conscience  approve. 
And  if  there  is  misery  in  the  indulgence  of  evil  affec- 
tions, so  also  there  is  a  sting  in  a  guilty  conscience.  Let 
any  amount  of  external  evil  befall  an  individual,  and  if 
he  has  a  conscience  void  of  offence,  he  can  be  tranquil 
and  even  happy  notwithstanding ;  but  let  conscience 
witness  against  him,  and  his  courage  and  his  comfort 
wither  away  together  under  her  accusations.  What 
made  Herod  tremble  with  apprehension  that  John  the 
Baptist  had  risen  from  the  dead  ?  What  made  Belshaz- 
zar  turn  pale,  when  he  saw  the  mysterious  hand  coming 
forth  and  writing  upon  the  wall  ?  What  made  Judas 
go  out  in  the  anguish  of  his  spirit  and  commit  suicide  7 
In  each  case  it  was  a  guilty  conscience ;  and  it  is  the 
same  which  often  fills  the  sinner  with  terrour,  and  some- 
times prompts  to  the  most  desperate  acts,  at  this  day. — 


336  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

As  this  principle  or  faculty  makes  part  of  man's  moral 
constitution,  it  is  not  easy  to  neutralize  its  power ;  and 
though  it  may  be  temporarily  put  to  sleep,  it  will  sooner 
or  later  awake  with  the  strength  of  a  giant.  Even  the 
man  who  glories  most  in  his  iniquity  and  infidelity,  is 
liable,  at  any  moment,  to  find  himself  bereaved  of  all  his 
triumph,  and  writhing  under  the  inflictions  of  this  in- 
ward avenger. 

But  if  such  are  the  sources  of  unhappiness  which  be- 
long to  man's  sinful  nature,  let  us  see  what  is  the  influ- 
ence which  these  two  systems  respectively  exert  in  re- 
moving or  perpetuating  them.  Have  we  not  already 
seen  that  Antinomianism  makes  no  adequate  provision 
for  purifying  the  heart;  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  presents 
the  strongest  inducements  that  a  corrupt  disposition  can 
ask,  to  surrender  itself  to  the  power  of  sinful  habit? — 
And  as  for  the  internal  monitor, — I  know  that  the  anti- 
dote which  it  furnishes  to  her  operations  would  be  alto- 
gether effectual,  if  it  were  not  for  the  inherent  difficulty 
of  her  being  bribed ;  for  it  tells  her  not  only  that  the 
Christian  has  no  sins  to  account  for,  but  that  he  is  inca- 
pable of  committing  any;  but  trifle  with  her  as  you 
will,  administer  opiates  to  her  as  you  may,  and  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  she  will  sometimes  rise  upon  you 
in  the  majesty  of  rebuke  :  the  deep  mist  of  errour  by 
which  she  is  surrounded  will  so  far  pass  away,  that  she 
will  recognise  God's  perfect  rule  of  judgment,  and  will 
bring  on  a  fearful  trembling  of  the  heart,  even  where 
there  is  a  creed  professed  whose  legitimate  tendency  is 
to  exclude  remorse  altogether.  The  man  who  beheves 
that  he  commits  no  sin,  and  that  he  is  incapable  of  sin- 
ning, believes  a  he ;  and  he  believes  it  against  so  much 
evidence  that  his  faith  will  sometimes  almost  certainly 
falter ;  and,  in  every  such  case,  he  is  of  course  left  to 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  337 

the  mercy  of  a  guilty  conscience.  But  have  we  not 
seen  that  Practical  Christianity  removes  both  these  causes 
of  unhappiness ; — that  while  she  dehvers  the  soul  from 
the  tyranny  of  its  own  lusts,  and  re-enstamps  it  with 
the  divine  image,  she  restores  peace  to  the  conscience 
in  the  only  legitimate  way,  by  sprinkling  it  with  the 
peace-speaking  blood  of  the  Redeemer  7  Is  not  Antino- 
mianism  then  the  enemy,  Practical  Christianity  the 
friend,  of  human  happiness  ? 

3.  Antinomianism  exhibits  a  view  of  ma7i^s  relations 
which  is  far  less  favourable  to  happiness  than  that 
which  is  presented  by  Practical  Christianity. 

What,  upon  Antinoinian  principles,  is  the  all  absorb- 
ing relation  which  the  Christian  sustains  to  God  ?  It 
is  that  of  a  beneficiary  to  a  benefactor.  And  what  are 
the  benefits  which  this  relation  proposes  to  secure  ?  Why 
simply  a  sense  of  personal  safety.  And  at  what  expense 
is  this  benefit  secured  ?  At  the  expense  of  bringing  dis- 
honour upon  the  divine  character,  and  sapping  the  foun- 
dation of  the  divine  government.  Surely  then,  though 
I  may  contemplate  God  as  my  Benefactor,  yet  it  must 
detract  mightily  from  the  interest  with  which  I  regard 
his  benefits,  if  he  has  become  my  Benefactor  at  the  ex- 
pense of  drawing  a  dark  cloud  over  his  infinite  per 
fections. 

But  the  Practical  Christian  contemplates  God  not 
only  as  a  Benefactor  but  as  a  moral  Governour ;  and  so 
far  from  viewing  the  two  characters  as  opposed  to  each 
other,  he  regards  them  as  perfectly  harmonious.  In 
yielding  obedience  to  God  as  a  moral  Governour,  he 
fulfils  the  great  law  of  his  being,  and  preserves  in  har- 
mony the  various  principles  of  his  nature.  In  the  bless- 
ings which  he  receives  from  the  divine  hand  he  recog- 
nises indeed  sovereign  grace,  but  grace  exercised  in  eon- 

29 


338  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

sistency  with  wisdom,  and  holiness  and  truth.  Is  it  not 
as  truly  a  blessing  to  be  a  subject  of  God's  government, 
as  to  be  an  heir  of  his  salvation  ? 

Need  I  say  that  there  is  a  corresponding  difference  in 
the  relation  which  the  believer  sustains  to  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christy  as  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  two  systems  ? 
Both  of  them  indeed  professedly  recognise  Christ  in  the 
character  of  a  Redeemer,  and  the  Christian  as  one  who 
has  been  redeemed ;  but  while  they  admit  the  same 
language,  they  ascribe  to  it  a  very  different  import. — 
How  has  Christ  become  my  Redeemer  on  the  princi- 
ples of  Antinomianism  ?  He  has  taken  my  sins  upon 
himself  in  such  a  sense  that  they  have  become  literally 
his  own ;  and  has  imparted  his  righteousness  to  me  in 
such  a  sense  that  it  has  become  literally  iny  own.  He 
has  purchased  for  me  by  his  death,  freedom  from  the 
obhgation  of  God's  law ;  in  other  words,  the  liberty  of  sin- 
ning ;  in  other  words  still,  the  privilege  of  wounding  my 
own  soul.  He  declares  to  me  indeed  that  I  have  nothing 
to  fear  in  respect  to  the  future,  and  yet  my  own  con- 
sciousness assures  me  that  my  inclinations  are  as  per- 
verse as  ever ;  that  my  heart  is  like  a  troubled  sea,  whose 
waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt.  What  then  though  I  may 
call  Jesus  my  Saviour, — yet  does  not  my  heart  feel  that 
there  is  much  less  of  endearment  in  the  name,  than  if  I 
could  recognise  him  as  my  soul's  physician  ?  And  can  I 
contemplate  his  character  with  the  same  delight,  as  if  I 
were  not  compelled  to  regard  him  as  an  actual  sinner  in 
virtue  of  the  part  which  he  bears  in  my  redemption  ? 

Practical  Christianity  invests  this  relation  with  a  far 
different  and  far  deeper  interest.  When  she  calls  Christ 
my  Redeemer,  and  me  one  of  his  ransomed,  she  means 
incomparably  more  than  it  has  ever  entered  my  heart  to 
conceive.    He  has  borne  the  curse  of  the  law  in  my  be- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  339 

half,  while  yet  he  has  remained  entirely  sinless.  He 
has  made  provision  for  my  sanctification,  not  by  assum- 
ing my  pollution,  or  imputing  to  me  his  holiness,  but  by 
giving  his  Spirit  to  work  in  me  both  to  will  and  to  do, 
causing  me  to  work  out  my  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling.  He  honours  me  by  employing  my  own 
humble  agency  in  his  service ;  and  thus  exalting  me 
into  a  blessed  co-operation  with  himself  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  mediatorial  designs.  May  I  not  then 
hft  up  my  heart  to  him  as  my  Redeemer  with  unuttera- 
ble thankfulness  and  joy  ?  But  could  it  be  so,  ought  it 
to  be  so,  if  I  viewed  Christ  only  in  the  light  of  Antino- 
mianism  ? 

Let  me  add  that  the  relation  which  Christians  sus- 
tain to  each  other ^  as  disciples  of  the  same  Master,  fel- 
low heirs  of  the  same  salvation,  becomes  quite  a  differ- 
ent matter  as  viewed  in  reference  to  the  one  system  or 
the  other.  The  happiness  to  be  derived  from  Christian 
fellowship  must  depend  chiefly  on  the  dispositions  and 
feelings  of  those  who  are  the  subjects  of  it.  There  may 
indeed  be  a  strong  party  attachment  where  there  is  no 
real  Christian  sympathy ;  but  the  fellowship  of  saints 
cannot  exist  where  there  is  not  the  hallowed  bond  of 
true  piety  ;  and  just  in  proportion  as  the  graces  of  the 
Spirit  abound  in  the  heart,  will  the  communion  of  sanc- 
tified souls  be  a  source  of  joy.  Now  inasmuch  as  Anti- 
nomianism  leaves  man  with  all  his  native  and  acquired 
selfishness,  and  Practical  Christianity  eradicates  it  and 
brings  in  its  place  an  expansive  and  generous  spirit ;  as 
Antinomianism  cherishes  pride,  and  bitterness  and  ma- 
lignity, and  Practical  Christianity  crucifies  them  all, 
and  brings  into  exercise  the  opposite  graces  ;  as  Anti- 
nomianism will  have  it  that  the  Christian  has  nothing 
to  do  inasmuch  as  Christ  has  done  all,  and  therefore  has 


340  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

no  occasion  to  avail  himself  of  fraternal  sympathy  and 
aid,  while  Practical  Christianity  maintains  that  he  has 
a  great  work  devolved  upon  him,  and  that  he  is  bound 
to  be  a  fellow-helper  with  others  unto  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
I  say  in  view  of  all  these  considerations,  is  it  not  manifest 
that  the  foimer  lays  no  foundation,  the  latter  a  complete 
foundation,  for  Christian  fellowship?  The  fellowship  of 
Antinomians  is  not  the  fellowship  of  saints  :  it  is  a  bond 
of  selfish  attachment,  not  of  Christian  love,  by  which 
they  are  united  ;  and  the  fruits  of  such  a  fellowship  cor- 
respond with  the  reigning  principle  by  which  it  is  ani- 
mated. The  fellowship  of  Practical  Christians  is  the 
fellowship  of  hearts  that  have  been  cast  in  the  same 
heavenly  mould  ;  and  its  fruits  are  love,  peace,  joy, — 
all  that  can  elevate  the  character,  and  delight  the  heart, 
of  the  Christian. 

4.  Antinomianism  connects  far  less  enjoyment  than 
Practical  Christianity  with  the  prospect  of  Heaven. 

Admitting  that  the  principles  of  Antinomianism,  when 
practically  adopted,  were  not  inconsistent  with  the  at- 
tainment of  Heaven, — yet,  what  is  there  in  Heaven,  as 
this  system  represents  it,  to  constitute  a  legitimate  object 
of  strong  desire  ?  Say  you  that  it  will  be  delightful  to 
dwell  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant  and  of  God  the  Judge  and  Father  of  all  1  But 
if  either  the  Father  or  the  Son  possesses  the  character 
which  Antinomianism  attributes  to  him, — if  the  Father 
has  consented  to  part  with  the  honours  of  his  throne  in 
virtue  of  the  mediation  of  Christ,  and  if  Christ,  in  as- 
suming the  office  of  Mediator,  has  also  assumed  the 
character  of  a  sinner,  where  I  ask  would  be  the  fulness 
of  joy  in  dweUing  at  God's  right  hand  ?  Do  you  say 
that  in  Heaven  there  will  be  perfect  freedom  from  sin  ? 
But  the  Antinomian  will  have  it  that  he  is  perfectly  free 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  341 

from  sin  on  earth :  of  course  the  change  from  earth  to 
Heaven  could  not,  in  this  respect,  involve  any  essential 
improvement  of  his  condition.  True  indeed  he  is  not 
free  from  sin,  as  he  claims  to  be ;  he  has  no  relish  for 
holy  enjoyments;  and  as  Heaven  is  a  place  of  perfect 
holiness,  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  have  any  real 
satisfaction  in  an  intelligent  anticipation  of  it.  The 
truth  is  that  his  views  of  Heaven  are  altogether  indefi- 
nite :  he  contemplates  it  merely  as  a  place  of  happiness, 
without  analyzing  the  ingredients  of  which  its  joys  are 
to  be  composed;  and  certainly  if  he  take  his  idea  of 
Heaven  from  what  passes  in  his  own  bosom, — if  he  sup- 
pose that  the  enjoyments  Avhich  it  offers  are  consistent 
with  that  selfish  spirit  which  his  system  is  so  well  adap- 
ted to  foster,  and  to  which  he  necessarily  yields  in  prac- 
tically embracing  the  system,  it  would  seem  that  even 
the  certainty  of  reaching  it  could  not  furnish  an  occasion 
for  any  very  high  or  rational  enjoyment. 

But  how  different  are  the  views  of  Heaven  which  are 
taken  by  the  Practical  Christian !  He  rejoices  in  the 
prospect  of  dwelling  in  the  presence  of  his  God  and  Re- 
deemer; and  well  he  may; — for  the  character  which 
they  bear  is  perfectly  glorious ;  the  work  which  they 
have  performed  is  deservedly  the  admiration  of  the  holy 
universe.  He  rejoices  in  the  prospect  of  the  perfect  holi- 
ness of  Heaven  ;  and  well  he  may  ; — for  sin  is  his  great- 
est burden  :  and  his  most  earnest  desire  is  that  he  may 
be  holy,  even  as  God  is  holy.  When  he  contemplates 
the  employments  of  Heaven  as  they  are  described  in 
God's  word,  he  finds  that  he  has  a  heart  to  engage  in 
them ;  when  he  thinks  of  the  new  song  that  trembles 
on  the  lips  of  the  ransomed,  he  finds  his  own  spirit  al- 
ready attuned  to  the  melodies  of  redemption :  when  the 
objects  that  are  to  occupy  the  thoughts  and  affections  of 
29* 


342  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

the  redeemed  forever  rise  up  before  him,  they  are  the 
very  objects  in  the  contemplation  of  which  he  finds,  even 
now,  his  highest  enjoyment.  Is  it  strange  then  that  the 
thought  of  Heaven  should  kindle  joy  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Practical  Christian  7  Is  it  strange  that  the  Antinomian 
should  anticipate  Heaven  with  comparative  indifference? 
But 

5.  Antinomianism  trifles  with  human  happiness  by 
exciting  hopes  which  can  never  he  realized :  Practical 
Christianity  promotes  it  by  giving  ample  security  for 
the  fuljillm^ent  of  all  her  promises. 

Antinomianism  tells  the  sinner  that  he  is  safe,  merely 
because  some  unaccountable  impression  has  come  over 
him  that  he  is  one  of  the  elect ;  and,  upon  the  strength 
of  this  impression,  bids  him  cast  out  all  fear,  and  rest  in 
the  conviction  that,  let  his  life  be  what  it  may,  he  shall 
finally  reach  Heaven.  It  distinctly  assures  him  that  he 
has  nothing  to  do  to  secure  his  salvation  ;  and  though 
he  walks  in  the  way  of  transgressors,  it  bids  him  go  on 
his  way  rejoicing.  But  if  God's  word  is  tme,  Antino- 
mianism in  all  this  testifies  falsely.  The  Bible  declares 
that  "  except  a  man  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God ;"  and  it  promises  "  glory  and 
honour  and  immortality"  only  to  a  "  patient  continu- 
ance in  well  doing ;"  while  it  denounces  "  indignation 
and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of 
man  that  doeth  evil."  If  then  God's  word  be  the  stan- 
dard of  truth,  Antinomianism  furnishes  an  opiate  to  the 
conscience,  when  the  conscience  ought  to  be  awake ;  it 
proclaims  "  peace  and  safety,"  while  the  Bible  is  talk- 
ing of  "  sudden  destruction  ;"  it  points  with  great  confi- 
dence towards  Heaven,  and  yet  leaves  the  sinner  to  fall 
blindfold  into  the  pit.  Is  not  this  trifling  with  human 
happiness  ?  Is  it  not  the  very  mockery  of  human  hopes? 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  343 

But  Practical  Christianity  never  deals  in  delusions. — 
She  tells  the  sinner  that  his  only  safety  is  in  exercising  re- 
pentance toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  persevering  to  the  end  of  life  in  a  course  of  holy 
obedience.  She  assures  him  that  any  thing  short  of  this — 
be  it  what  it  may — leaves  him  to  the  stern  exactions  of 
justice, — to  the  punishment  which  his  sins  have  merited. 
And  in  all  this  she  is  justified  to  the  letter  by  the  infal- 
lible declarations  of  the  Bible.  She  not  only  points  up- 
ward to  Heaven,  but  she  points  out  the  way  that  con- 
ducts thither ;  and  that  way  is  so  plain  that  the  way- 
faring man  need  not  err  therein  ;  and  those  who  do  not 
reach  Heaven  will  find  that  it  is  because  they  have  re- 
fused to  walk  in  it.  Practical  Christianity  indeed  awa- 
kens high  hopes ;  but  as  God's  testimony  can  be  relied 
on,  she  fulfills  them  all.  Antinomianism  awakens  high 
hopes  also ;  but  the  same  infallible  testimony  has  ren- 
dered it  equally  certain  that  they  will  all  fail  when  God 
taketh  away  the  soul. 

The  other  end  accomplished  by  the  dispensation  of 
grace  is  the  glory  of  God^  or  the  manifestation  of  the 
divine  character.  How  do  these  two  systems  bear  upon 
this  mighty  end  ? 

1.  Antinomianism  opposes  the  glory  of  God  by  vir- 
tually discharging  men  from  his  service :  Practical 
Christianity  promotes  it  hy  keepitig  all  their  faculties 
under  contribution. 

There  is  a  sense  indeed  in  which  all  men,  in  common 
with  all  created  existence,  glorify  God  by  a  law  of  their 
being.  The  heavens  declare  his  glory,  as  they  manifest 
his  wisdom,  power  and  goodness ;  and  surely  man,  in 
his  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  constitution,  is  a 
much  higher  specimen  of  God's  handy  work,  and  of 
course  shows  forth  his  glory  in  a  proportionally  higher 


344  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

degree.  But  there  is  another  sense  in  which  man  is  ca- 
pable of  glorifying  God, — is  required  to  glorify  him ; — I 
-mean  by  employing  his  faculties  as  a  moral  agent  in 
his  Creator's  service.  How  would  a  child  confer  the 
highest  honour  upon  an  affectionate  and  revered  parent? 
Not  surely  by  disobe3dng  his  commands  and  dechning  his 
service,  but  by  making  his  will  a  law^,  and  endeavouring, 
so  far  as  possible,  to  please  him  in  all  things.  In  like 
manner,  whoever  would  glorify  God,  must  consecrate  all 
his  faculties  and  affections  to  the  service  of  God.  But 
Antinomianism  releases  the  Christian  from  the  obliga- 
tion to  do  this ;  and  more  than  that,  discourages  him 
from  attempting  it,  by  virtually  depriving  him  of  his  mo- 
ral agency  ;  while  Practical  Christianity  holds  up  before 
him  continually  his  obligation  to  glorify  God  both  in  his 
body  and  spirit.  The  angels  in  Heaven  glorify  him  by 
their  swift  obedience  to  his  commandments  :  the  Practi- 
cal Christian  on  earth  glorifies  him  in  a  similar,  though 
far  humbler,  manner ;  but  the  Antinomian  dishonours 
him  by  virtually  de-claring  that  his  commandments  are 
grievous. 

2.  Antinomianism  obscures  the  divine  glory  by 
making  void  the  laio :  Practical  Christianity  illustrates 
it  by  establishing  the  law. 

The  law  is  the  standard  of  moral  rectitude,  not  only 
for  tliis  world  but  for  all  worlds,  and  even  for  the  Crea- 
tor Himself  It  is  no  arbitrary  standard  which  might 
have  been  adopted  or  not  in  consistency  with  Jehovah's 
perfections,  but  it  is  just  such  a  rule  of  action  as  his  per- 
fections required  ;  and  any  thing  different,  we  may  safe- 
ly say,  would  have  rendered  his  administration  imper- 
fect, and  destroyed  his  character  as  a  moral  Governour. 
And  the  law  is  not  only  consistent  with  the  moral  attri- 
butes of  God, — was  not  only  required  by  them,  but  it 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  345 

brings  them  out  in  living  and  palpable  manifestation. 
Here  the  justice,  the  holiness,  the  goodness,  the  wisdom, 
of  God,  strike  the  mind  far  more  impressively  than  when 
they  are  contemplated  merely  in  their  abstract  relations. 
But  Antinomianism  would  dash  in  pieces  this  mirror  in 
which  the  moral  character  of  Jehovah  is  reflected 
through  the  creation.  By  absolving  a  portion  of  God's 
intelligent  creatures  from  the  obligation  to  obedience,  it 
virtually  annihilates  the  law  altogether ;  for  it  declares 
that  it  is  not  worthy  to  be  a  universal  standard  of  moral 
action.  But  Practical  Christianity  respects  all  the  claims 
of  God  as  a  moral  Governour.  She  sees  the  law  per- 
fectly honoured  in  every  part  of  the  dispensation  of 
grace :  Of  course  she  preserves  all  the  moral  attributes 
of  God  as  they  are  exhibited  in  it ;  but  what  becomes 
of  them  in  view  of  a  system  which  pours  dishonour  upon 
the  law,  and  virtually  stamps  it  as  an  arbitrary  and  op- 
pressive enactment  ? 

3.  Antinomianism  tarnishes  the  glory  of  God  hy 
exhibiting"  a  revolting  discordancy  among  his  perfec- 
tions :  Practical  Christianity  secures  it  hy  exhibiting 
his  perfections  in  perfect  harmony. 

You  cannot  contemplate  for  a  moment  the  bearings 
of  Antinomianism  upon  the  essential  character  of  God, 
without  perceiving  that  it  throws  his  perfections  into  dis- 
proportionate manifestation,  and  even  into  conjunctions 
of  hostility.  It  exalts  for  instance  the  divine  goodness 
into  an  undue  relative  pre-eminence  in  reference  to  one 
part  of  the  human  family,  and  the  divine  justice  in  re- 
ference to  another  ;  or  rather  it  causes  goodness  to  dege- 
nerate into  an  unreasonable  partiality,  and  justice  into 
an  arbitrary  vindictiveness.  And  thus  it  not  only  de- 
stroys the  infinite  proportion  of  the  divine  attributes  by  a 
most  unwarrantable  distortion  of  them,  but  places  them 


346 


PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 


ia  an  altitude  of  decided  opposition  to  each  other ;  at 
the  same  time  that  it  entirely  overshadows  God's  infi- 
nite holiness  by  contending  for  impunity  to  sin.  But 
Practical  Christianity  brings  out  the  moral  character  of 
God  in  perfect  proportions.  While  she  exalts  each  of 
his  perfections  in  the  highest  possible  degree,  she  main- 
tains an  entire  harmony  among  the  whole.  Her  designs 
are  indeed  accomplished  at  an  amazing  expense,  but 
not  at  the  expense  of  any  one  of  the  divine  attributes. 
Mercy  and  truth,  righteousness  and  peace,  are  harmoni- 
ously blended  ;  and  while  each  is  sustained  in  all  its  ma- 
jesty, each  becomes  more  attractive  from  being  contem- 
plated in  such  glorious  combination. 

With  a  few  reflections  such  as  the  view  we  have  ta- 
ken of  this  subject  naturally  suggests,  I  shall  conclude 
the  discourse. 

1.  Our  subject  teaches  us  that  Antinomianism  is  a 
distorted  and  partial  vieio  of  the   Christian  system. 

As  it  distorts  the  moral  character  of  God  into  an  un- 
natural and  unlovely  shape,  and  as  the  dispensation  of 
grace  as  well  as  essential  religion,  has  its  foundation  in 
God's  moral  perfections,  it  necessarily  follows  that  the 
whole  system  of  religion  suffers  a  proportional  distortion. 
Take  for  instance  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  election — 
What  is  it  as  it  lies  in  the  creed  of  the  Antinomian,  but 
an  expression  of  unreasonable  and  capricious  favourit- 
ism ;  and  what  is  its  legitimate  tendency,  but  to  encour- 
age a  spirit  of  pride  and  presumption?  The  doctrine  of 
Christ's  mediation — What  does  this  imply  but  that  his 
death  was  an  unreasonable  and  cruel  measure  which 
the  exigency  of  the  case  did  not  require;  or  that,  having 
interposed  in  a  controversy  between  God  and  man,  he 
has  settled  it  at  the  expense  of  yielding  to  man  the  great 
point  in  controversy  between  them. — whether  or  not  the 


CONTRASTED   WITH   ANTINOMIANISM  347 

authority  of  God's  law  should  be  maintained?  The  doc- 
trine of  justification — what  else  is  it  than  a  revelation  of 
God's  eternal  decree  that  Christ's  righteousness  should 
be  ours  in  such  a  sense  as  to  render  us  actually  blame- 
less in  his  sight  ?  And  what  else  is  faith  in  Christ  than 
a  belief  of  this  absurd  proposition?  What  is  human 
depravity  but  a  quality  for  which  we  are  in  no  wise  ac- 
countable ?  And  what  is  efficacious  grace,  but  the  act- 
ing of  Almighty  Power  upon  a  mere  machine?  Indeed 
there  is  not  a  doctrine  of  the  Bible  which  does  not  well 
nigh  lose  its  identity  in  becoming  incorporated  with  the 
creed  of  the  Antinomian. 

And  while  Antinomianism  sadly  perverts  the  Chris- 
tian system,  it  exhibits  only  a  partial  view  of  it.  Ad- 
mit that  it  teaches  the  doctrine  of  the  grace  of  God  that 
bringeth  salvation, — yet  it  leaves  out  of  view  the  law  of 
God  requiring  obedience.  Admit  that  it  teaches  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ, — yet 
what  provision  does  it  make  for  the  renovation  of  the 
heart?  Admit  that  it  inculcates  the  necessity  of  faith 
in  the  Redeemer — yet  does  it  not  virtually  absolve  from 
the  obligation  to  good  works,  without  which  the  Apostle 
declares  faith  to  be  dead  ?  It  not  only  separates  things 
in  the  Christian  system  Avhich  God  has  joined  together, 
but  casts  away  an  important  part  of  divine  truth,  as  if 
it  were  nothing  better  than  the  rubbish  of  an  exploded 
theology. 

2.  We  see  in  the  review  of  our  subject  that  Antiiio- 
mianism  is  nearly  related  to  some  other  dangerous 
systems  of  err  our. 

Take  for  instance  the  system  of  Pelagianism,  which 
maintains  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  works, — though 
this  system  seems  at  first  view  to  be  the  exact  opposite 
of  Antinomianism,  yet  a  moment's  reflection  will  satisfy 


348  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

you  that  there  is  much  ground  that  is  common  to 
both ;  and  that  their  practical  tendencies  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  same.  They  unite  in  the  doctrine  that  faith 
makes  void  the  law  ;  though  the  uses  which  they  make 
of  this  doctrine  are  far  different ;  the  Antinomian  main- 
taining that  the  obligation  of  the  law  has  ceased, — the 
Pelagian,  that  we  are  not  justified  by  faith  alone.  Ne- 
vertheless there  is,  as  I  have  intimated,  a  striking  simi- 
larity in  their  ultimate  results.  The  Antinomian  will 
tell  you  that  he  earnestly  wishes  to  be  a  good  man,  and 
that  it  is  not  his  own  fault  if  he  is  not  so,  as  the  work 
of  his  salvation  is  entirely  of  God  ;  while  the  Pelagian 
will  tell  you  of  the  native  goodness  of  his  heart,  and  the 
meritorious  doings  of  his  life.  But  do  you  not  perceive 
that  the  wishes  of  the  Antinomian  to  be  good,  and  the 
actual  goodness  claimed  by  the  Pelagian,  indicate  sub- 
stantially the  same  spirit, — a  spirit  of  pharisaic  pride  and 
self-righteousness?  And  then  again,  the  Antinomian 
who  considers  himself  justified,  though  he  spurns  at  the 
idea  of  glorying  in  good  works,  yet  actually  glories  in 
being  one  of  the  elect,  as  if  that,  after  all,  involved  the 
idea  of  personal  merit;  while  the  Pelagian,  rejecting 
with  heart-felt  reprobation  the  doctrine  of  election,  glo- 
ries not  less  in  having  made  himself  a  favourite  of  Hea- 
ven. Thus  you  see  in  each  the  heart  of  the  Pharisee. 
By  different  and  apparently  opposite  means  they  arrive 
at  the  same  practical  result. 

Nor  is  the  resemblance  less  striking  between  Antino- 
mianism  and  one  form  of  Universalism.  The  Antino- 
mian believes  that  the  death  of  Christ  sustains  such  a 
relation  to  the  law,  that  the  law  has  no  longer  any  de- 
mands upon  the  elect,  and  that  no  amount  of  ungodli- 
ness and  crime  can  endanger  their  salvation.  The  Uni- 
versalist  of  the  kind  to  which  I  here  refer,  maintains  that, 


CONTRASTED    WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         349 

as  the  fall  of  Adam  brought  condemnation  to  all,  so  the 
death  of  Christ,  being  the  Hteral  payment  of  a  debt  due 
to  divine  justice  from  the  whole  human  family,  not  only 
brings  all  into  a  salvable  state  but  actually  secures  their 
salvation,  independently  of  any  agency  of  their  own.— 
Neither  Universalism  nor  Antinomianism  leaves  the  sin- 
ner with  any  thing  to  do :  the  grand  difference  between 
them  is,  that  the  former  secures  salvation  to  all ;  the  lat- 
ter, only  to  the  elect. 

3.  Our  subject  suggests  the  origin  of  Antinomian 
tendencies,  and  the  means  of  counteracting  them. 

I  had  occasion  to  remark  in  the  commencement  of 
the  discourse  that,  while  bad  men  only  can  be  thorough- 
ly practical  Antinomians,  good  men  may  evince,  and 
frequently  have  evinced,  in  no  small  degree,  Antinomian 
tendencies.  Not  that  Antinomianism  in  any  form,  or 
in  the  least  degree,  is  to  be  considered  harmless ;  for  the 
least  that  it  does  is  to  mar  the  proportion  and  diminish 
the  efficiency  of  Christian  character ;  but  that  good  men 
may  hold  some  views  which,  to  say  the  least,  legitimate- 
ly result  in  Antinomianism,  admits  of  no  question.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that,  so  far  as  true  Christians 
are  led  at  all  into  this  errour,  it  is  from  causes  quite  dif- 
ferent from  those  in  which  the  errour  originates  with  the 
ungodly. 

Wherever  you  find  an  individual  who  gives  evidence 
of  true  piety  exhibiting  Antinomian  tendencies,  you 
will,  if  1  mistake  not,  always  find  that  he  holds  in  pe- 
culiar abhoiTence  that  system  which  would  detract  aught 
from  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer's  work  by  allowing  a 
particle  of  merit  to  the  creature.  In  opposing  this  sys- 
tem, and  in  defending  the  doctrine  of  sovereign  grace  in 
the  salvation  of  man,  he  surely  has  all  Scripture  on  his 
side ;  but  in  his  eagerness  to  keep  clear  of  one  species 

30 


350  PRACTICAL    CHRISTIANITY 

of  erroiir,  he  gets,  to  say  the  least,  too  close  upon  the 
confines  of  another ;  and  in  his  zeal  to  magnify  God's 
grace,  he  uses  sweeping  expressions  which  would  seem 
to  imply  that  he  had  cut  loose  from  the  law  ;  while  yet, 
after  all,  his  dehght  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  after  the 
inner  man.  And  while  such  is  the  origin  of  this  ten- 
dency in  good  men,  it  is  no  doubt  greatly  assisted  in 
many  cases  by  an  inattentive  perusal  of  Scripture ;  by 
neglecting  to  compare  one  portion  of  it  with  another,  and 
especially  by  adhering  to  the  literal  meaning  of  certain 
terms,  which  were  designed  to  have  only  a  figurative 
application.  It  is  a  jealousy  for  God's  truth  and  God's 
honour  which  betrays  the  good  man,  so  far  as  he  is  be- 
trayed, into  this  system  of  errour. 

But  such  is  not  the  reason  why  the  careless  and  un- 
godly become  Antinomians.  The  reason  is  that  they 
have  a  "  carnal  mind'  which  '  is  enmity  against  God  ; 
is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be." 
The  whole  current  of  their  inclinations  contravenes  the 
great  designs  of  God's  moral  government ;  and  hence 
they  are  predisposed  to  find  apologies  for  their  disobedi- 
ence and  rebellion.  And  the  system  of  errour  which 
w^e  have  now  been  contemplating  supplies  them  wdth  an 
apology,  which,  if  it  be  admitted,  supersedes  the  neces- 
sity of  any  other.  And  does  not  the  history  of  human 
nature  prove  that  it  is  easy  to  believe  what  w^e  wish  to 
believe  ?  If  then  the  sinner  in  his  heart  is  opposed  to 
the  moral  government  of  God,  is  not  this  the  best  possi- 
ble preparation  for  the  reception  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
law  has  lost  its  authority  in  respect  to  the  elect,  and  for 
believing  that  he  is  himself  one  of  the  privileged  num- 
ber? 

Now  how  shall  these  tendencies  to  Antinomianism, 
whether  in  good  or  bad  men,  be  successfully  resisted? 


CONTRASTED   WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.  351 

I  answer,  by  holding  up  before  them  the  truths  of  the 
gospel  in  their  proper  connexions  and  practical  bearings. 
Let  no  minister  fear  to  set  forth  God's  law  in  the  extent 
of  its  claims  and  the  majesty  of  its  sanctions,  lest  he 
should  thereby  incur  the  odium  of  being  a  legal  preach- 
er. Let  him  show  both  to  saint  and  sinner  that  every 
violation  of  the  law  is  sin ;  and  that  each,  as  a  moral 
agent,  is  accountable  for  every  sin  he  commits  to  the 
great  Lawgiver  and  Judge.  Let  him  preach  the  doc- 
trines of  grace  in  all  their  fulness,  and  richness  and  glo- 
ry ;  but  let  him  preach  them  as  doctrines  designed  and 
adapted  to  form  in  man  a  holy  temper ;  and  let  him 
show  from  the  very  constitution  of  the  gospel  that  any 
system  which  perverts  them  to  a  different  end,  is  neces- 
sarily and  essentially  a  system  of  errour.  And  finally, 
let  him  appeal  to  the  different  practical  effects  which 
these  doctrines  produce  when  preached  in  their  proper 
connexions,  and  when  exhibited  in  a  divorced  and  insu- 
lated form,  and  show  how,  in  the  one  case,  the  Christian 
character  is  either  not  formed  at  all  or  grows  up  to  a 
dwarfish  deformity ; — how,  in  the  other,  it  rises  in  beau- 
tiful proportions,  exhibiting  all  the  virtues  and  graces  of 
the  gospel.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  assert  that  this  instru- 
mentality will  of  itself  root  out  the  Antinomian  tenden- 
cies of  the  human  heart : — nevertheless  it  is  God's  ap- 
pointed means  for  accomplishing  this  end ;  and  in  the 
hands  of  his  Spirit  we  may  confidently  expect  that  it 
will  prove  effectual. 

4.  Our  subject  teaches  us  that  the  spirit  of  Antino- 
mianism  is  the  spirit  of  the  tvhole  unrenewed  world. 

What  is  it  that  distinguishes  man  previous  to  his  re- 
novation, but  a  disrehsh  for  God's  commandments, — a 
reluctance  to  submit  to  his  authority  ?  And  what  is  it 
that  is  accomphshed  for  man  in  his  renovation,  but  that 


352  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

his  rebellious  temper  is  subdued,  and  he  is  brought  to 
delight  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  7  And  what  is  Antino- 
mianism  but  this  very  spirit  which,  previous  to  regene- 
ration, constitutes  the  ruUng  temper  of  the  heart?  Let 
no  unrenewed  sinner  then  say  that  this  subject  has  con- 
veyed no  admonition  that  is  applicable  to  hi?n ;  inas- 
much as  he  is  not  only  no  Antinomian,  but  sees  in  the  sys- 
tem nothing  but  absurdity.  Take  heed  that  you  be  not 
deceived.  Antinomianism  is  an  insinuating  and  shp- 
pery  thing ;  and  hke  a  serpent  in  a  bed  of  roses,  it  may 
lie  hid  in  a  system  of  doctrine  in  which  you  may  dis- 
cern nothing  but  the  full  features  of  an  established  or- 
thodoxy. But  be  your  system  of  doctrine  what  it  may, 
certain  it  is  that  you  have  an  Antinomian  heart,  if  you 
have  an  unrenewed  heart ;  and  this  will  be  enough  to 
sustain  against  you  the  charge  of  having  been  an  An- 
tinomian in  the  most  fearful  sense,  at  the  great  day. — 
Hear  then  as  for  your  life,  when  1  call  upon  you  to  yield 
up  that  rebellious  spirit,  and  enter  cordially  into  the  ser- 
vice of  your  Lawgiver  and  Lord. 

Finally :  How  tnnch  both  of  beauty  and  power  be- 
longs to  Practical  Christianity ! 

As  a  system  of  truth,  it  is  characterized  by  perfect 
harmony  in  all  its  parts  and  all  its  bearings  ;  and  in  its 
results,  it  secures  all  the  great  ends  proposed  by  the  su- 
blimest  economy  which  Infinite  Wisdom  ever  devised. 
See  what  Practical  Christianity  has  already  done  for  the 
world,  and  say  whether  she  is  not  to  be  greeted  as  a 
good  angel  from  the  world  above.  Behold  how  many 
fountains  of  sorrow  she  has  dried  up,  and  how  many 
fountains  of  joy  she  has  unsealed  !  Behold  her  appropri- 
ating the  world  as  her  field,  and  going  forth  with  a  heart 
that  beats  to  every  form  of  human  wo,  and  a  hand  open 
to  dispense  blessings  of  every  description !    And  though 


CONTRASTED     WITH    ANTINOMIANISM.         353 

the  work  that  she  has  set  herself  to  accomphsh  is  only- 
begun,  she  has  done  enough  to  constitute  a  pledge  that 
she  will  do  the  whole ;  that  she  will  never  rest  from  her 
labours  till  the  world  has  been  reclaimed  from  the  do- 
minion of  the  curse,  and  the  last  gem  has  been  set  in 
the  Mediator's  crown.  Let  Antinomianism  go  to  sleep 
and  dream  that  there  is  nothing  for  her  to  do,  inasmuch 
as  God  is  pledged  to  do  it  all ;  but  let  her  know  that  she 
will  ere  long  awake  from  her  slumbers  to  a  scene  of  ig- 
nominy and  waiUng.  Meanwhile  let  Practical  Chris- 
tianity wax  bolder  and  stronger  in  her  efforts  to  renovate 
the  world  and  glorify  God  ;  and  as  God's  word  is  true, 
to  her  will  belong  the  honour  of  having  carried  the  news 
of  salvation,  and  raised  the  Redeemer's  standard,  among 
all  the  nations. 

I  address  many  who,  by  profession,  are  Practical 
Christians.  And  what  better  can  I  do  than  exhort  you 
to  abound  more  and  more  in  all  works  of  faith  and  la- 
bours of  love  ?  First  of  all,  keep  your  hearts  with  all 
diligence.  Labour  for  your  own  sanctification  not  mere- 
ly as  a  matter  of  personal  comfort,  nor  yet  merely  be- 
cause God  requires  it,  but  that  you  may  the  more  effec- 
tually aid  the  sanctification  of  your  fellow  men.  And 
then  fulfil  all  the  duties  connected  with  your  various 
relations  with  fidelity  and  alacrity.  You  are  the  head 
of  a  family — see  to  it  that  you  look  to  the  interests  of 
the  soul  as  well  as  the  body ;  and  endeavour,  by  God's 
grace,  to  become  the  instrument  of  salvation  to  those 
whom  he  has  made  dependant  upon  you.  You  are  a 
member  of  the  church — let  your  conversation  be  such  as 
becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  such  as  you  may  hope 
will  impress  others  with  the  value  of  true  Christianity, 
and  even  seal  the  hps  of  the  infidel  and  the  scoffer. — 
God  has  put  at  your  disposal  a  share — it  may  be  a  large 
30* 


354  PRACTICAL     CHRISTIANITY 

share — of  the  bounties  of  his  providence — forget  not  that 
in  doing  this,  he  has  only  constituted  you  a  steward,  and 
that  ere  long  he  will  require  of  you  a  steward's  account. 
Distribute  liberally  and  cheerfully  to  the  necessities  of 
your  fellow  creatures ;  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it ; 
and  you  will  thereby  convert  the  corruptible  treasures  of 
earth  into  the  imperishable  treasures  of  Heaven.  God 
has  given  you  influence  in  society — it  may  be  he  has 
elevated  you  above  most  of  your  fellow  men — see  that 
you  use  that  influence  for  his  honour,  and  for  their  bene- 
fit. In  short,  realize  habitually  that  God's  claims  are 
upon  you  to  labour  in  his  service  to  the  extent  of  your 
ability.  Keep  your  eye  fixed  upon  the  Son  of  God,  not 
only  as  the  Lord  your  Righteousness  and  the  Lord 
your  Strength,  but  as  a  perfect  model  of  consistent  and 
self-denied  activity.  Regard  it  a  hght  thing,  or  rather 
account  it  a  blessed  privilege,  to  bear  the  cross  in  the 
cause  of  Him,  who  bled  on  the  cross  to  save  you  from 
Hell.  While  you  take  heed  that  the  materials  which 
should  constitute  the  superstructure  are  not  placed  as  the 
foundation, — that  Christ,  and  nothing  but  Christ,  is  the 
ground  of  your  hope  of  final  acceptance,  let  it  be  mani- 
fest to  all  that  you  live  under  a  deep  impression  that  you 
are  not  your  own.  Let  your  deportment  be  a  standing- 
refutation  of  the  charge  that  the  doctrines  of  grace  arc 
not  according  to  godliness.  "  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and 
glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven." 


LECTURE  VIII. 


EXPERIMENTAL  CHRISTIANITY  CONTRASTED  WITH 
FORMALISM,  SENTIMENTALISM  AND  FANATICISM. 


1   Peter  ii.  3. 

If  so  be  ye  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. 

IN  CONNEXION  WITH 

Revelation  hi.   i. 

Thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest  and  art  dead. 

The  design  of  the  Apostle  in  the  commencement  of 
the  chapter  in  which  the  former  of  these  passages  occurSj 
was  to  suppress  the  risings  of  every  unhallowed  temper 
among  the  Christians  whom  he  was  addressing,  and  to 
encourage  them  to  the  cultivation  of  all  those  virtues 
and  graces  which  are  enjoined  by  the  gospel.  He  takes 
for  granted  that  they  had  already  been  regenerated ; 
that  they  were  no  strangers  to  the  consolations  of  piety; 
that  they  had  "  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious ;"  and 
in  view  of  the  experience  which  they  had  actually  had, 
calls  upon  them,  "as  new  born  babes,'  to  'desire  the  sin- 
cere milk  of  the  word  that'  they  '  may  grow  thereby."* 


356  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

The  point  to  which  I  wish  particularly  to  direct  your 
attention  is,  that  the  great  truth  that  "  the  Lord  is  gra- 
cious" had  been  a  matter  of  experience  with  them ;  or, 
in  the  language  of  the  Apostle,  they  had  "  tasted"  it. — 
And  what  was  true  of  them  in  respect  to  this  particular 
truth,  is  true  of  all  real  Christians  in  respect  to  the  en- 
tire gospel  of  which  this  truth  indeed  is  an  epitome :  it 
is  not  merely  a  matter  of  speculation  with  them,  but  a 
matter  of  experience  also. 

The  latter  passage  makes  part  of  the  reproof  which 
the  Apostle  John  received  in  vision  to  be  communicated 
to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis.  This  church,  it 
seems,  had  greatly  declined  in  spirituality,  insomuch 
that  it  had  but  Httle  of  the  Kfe  of  godliness  remaining. 
Hence  the  Apostle  declares,  "  I  know  thy  works  that 
thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  Hvest,  and  art  dead."  As 
if  he  had  said,  "  Ye  are  professedly  a  company  of  Chris  - 
tians,  dead  to  the  world  and  alive  to  God  ;  but  ye  are 
really,  for  the  most  part,  alive  to  the  w^orld  and  dead  to 
God :  though  there  may  be  some  among  you  who  have 
a  principle  of  true  piety,  yet  the  religion  of  much  the 
greater  part  is  no  better  than  the  body  without  the  spi- 
rit." And  it  had  been  well  if  the  church  of  Sardis  had 
been  the  only  church  to  which  this  reproof  could  admit 
of  application  :  but  unhappily  it  describes  the  character 
of  a  large  number  of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  in 
every  age.  They  have  a  name  that  they  live :  they 
wear  the  Christian's  badge,  and  often  speak  the  Chris- 
tian's language,  and  profess  to  be  travelling  toward  the 
Christian's  home;  but,  after  all,  they  are  dead:  they 
have  never  felt  the  power  of  God's  quickening  grace, 
but  are  relying  either  on  some  false  experience,  or  on 
something  that  is  merely  external,  as  evidence  of  their 
claim  to  the  Christian  character. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  357 

You  perceive  then  that  the  topick  which  these  two 
passages  in  their  connexion  fairly  present,  is  the  con- 
trast hetiveen  Experimental  Christianity  and  its 
counterfeits :  and  these  counterfeits  may  be  reduced  to 
three — viz,  Formalism,  iSentimentalism  and  Fanati- 
cism. 

By  Experimental  Christiatiity,  I  mean,  in  one 
word,  Christianity  in  its  inward  and  spiritual  operations. 

By  Formalism  I  mean  a  scrupulous  regard  for  the 
externals  of  religion  at  the  expense  of  its  life  and  power : 
By  Sentimentalism,  a  habit  of  refined  religious  specula- 
tion combined  with  a  delicate  or  sickly  sensibiUty: — 
By  Fanaticism,  the  workings  of  a  wild  and  extrava- 
gant zeal  in  the  prosecution  of  ends  which  are  profess- 
edly or  really  connected  with  morality  or  rehgion. 

When  I  speak  of  these  three  latter  qualities  as  coun- 
terfeits of  Experimental  Christianity,  you  will  not  un- 
derstand me  to  imply  that  they  cannot  in  any  degree 
co-exist  with  the  genuine  quality.  No  doubt  there  may 
be  a  degree  of  Formalism,  or  Sentimentalism,  or  Fana- 
ticism, associated  with  true  piety;  and  of  the  two  latter 
particularly,  a  great  degree :  nevertlieless  they  have 
nothing  in  common  with  it ;  and  where  either  of  them 
exists  at  all  in  such  combination,  it  mars  the  Christian 
character.  In  the  present  discourse  I  shall  consider 
them  severally,  as  constituting  the  basis  of  the  charac- 
ter ;  and  of  course,  in  this  sense,  as  inconsistent  with 
vital  godliness. 

Let  us  then  contrast  Experimental  Christianity  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanati- 
cism, on  the  other,  in  respect  to 

I.  Their  origin  : 

II.  Their  nature  : 

III.  Their  effects. 


358 


EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 


1.  Their  origin. 

1.  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanaticism,  ori- 
ginate in  the  abuse  of  a  divine  influence^  or  in  the 
operation  of  mere  natural  feeling:  Experimental 
Christianity  has  its  origin  in  the  new  creating  poioer 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  the  individual  who  is  now  a 
FormaHst,  may,  in  other  days,  have  been  no  stranger  to 
the  awakening  and  convincing  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit :  he  may  have  felt,  for  a  season,  that  his  soul  was 
in  jeopardy,  and  that,  unless  he  took  refuge  in  the  grace 
of  the  gospel,  he  must  inevitably  perish ;  but  having 
meditated,  and  prayed,  and  wept,  and  made  various  in- 
effectual efforts  to  find  relief, — ineffectual,  because  made 
in  the  exercise  of  a  legal  spirit, — and  having  grown 
weary  or  discouraged  in  this  course,  he  resolves  at  length 
upon  another  ;  and  instead  of  endeavouring  to  let  go  his 
own  righteousness  as  a  ground  of  hope,  he  practically 
determines  to  cling  to  it  more  close]}^  than  ever  ;  and  as 
God  is  not  a  hard  master,  he  hopes  for  acceptance  on 
the  ground  of  his  intended  obedience.  And  thus  begins 
his  course  as  a  Formalist.  Or  it  may  be  that  he  advan- 
ces still  farther,  and  instead  of  avowedly  desisting  from 
the  effort  to  enter  in  at  the  straight  gate,  apparently 
comes  upon  evangelical  ground,  and  professes  a  delight- 
ful confidence  in  the  Saviour,  and  a  cordial  approbation 
of  his  work ;  and  makes  a  publick  profession  of  his  faith 
with  a  full  conviction  that  he  has  "  tasted  that  the  Lord 
is  gracious;"  but  ere  long  it  becomes  evident  both  to  him- 
self and  to  others,  that  his  experience  was  only  a  dream; 
and  he  feels  and  manifests  as  much  interest  in  the  ob- 
jects of  sense,  and  as  little  in  the  objects  of  faith,  as  he 
did  previous  to  the  time  when  his  sins  were  set  in  order 
before  him.    If  he  were  not  in  the  church,  he  would  now 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  359 

have  no  motive  to  come  into  it ;  but  lie  has  done  an  act 
which  places  him  among  the  professed  followers  of 
Christ ;  and  the  pride  of  consistency  stands  in  the  way 
of  openly  renouncing  his  profession;  and  he  compromi- 
ses between  the  claims  of  his  conscience  and  of  his  cha- 
racter on  the  one  hand,  and  the  claims  of  his  worldly 
and  corrupt  inclinations  on  the  other,  by  remaining  in 
the  church,  and  observing  her  forms,  and  holding  to  her 
standards,  while  yet  he  feels  not  the  motions  of  a  princi- 
ple of  spiritual  life ;  and  this  compromise  once  made,  he 
may  be  considered  as  having  deliberately  entered  on  a 
habit  of  Formalism.  Or,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  indi- 
vidual concerned  may  never  have  been  the  subject  of 
any  special  awakening  influence ; — he  may  have  been 
educated  in  a  religious  atmosphere,  and  have  had  his  at- 
tention early  directed  to  the  forms  of  religion,  and  have 
heard  their  importance  frequently  and  earnestly  inculca- 
ted ;  and  he  may  have  come  to  ascribe  an  undue  im- 
portance to  these  apart  from  the  spirit  of  piety;  and 
finally  he  may,  in  a  measure  unconsciously,  have  taken 
up  the  observance  of  them  as  a  substitute  for  piety ;  and 
now  he  is  in  the  church  as  thorough-going  a  Formahst 
as  she  embosoms.  You  may  aim  as  heavy  a  blow  at 
the  life  of  godliness  as  you  will,  and  he  evinces  no  anxie- 
ty for  the  result ;  but  touch  one  of  its  forms,  and  he 
instantly  takes  the  alarm,  as  if  you  were  laying  profane 
hands  on  the  ark  of  God. 

The  religion  of  the  Sentimentalist  is  commonly  to  be 
traced  to  a  pecuHarity  of  temperament.  Indeed,  as  I 
have  already  intimated,  it  supposes  the  existence  of  a 
peculiar  susceptibility  to  refined  and  delicate  impressions ; 
though  that  susceptibility  may  possibly  be  rather  an  ac- 
quired than  an  original  quality.  But  I  imagine  that  in 
almost  every  case  in  which  you  find  this  character  ex- 


360  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

emplifiedj  you  will  find  it  associated  with  a  love  of  what 
is  soft  or  tender  or  beautiful  in  nature ;  and  it  is  in  this 
department  of  the  soul,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression, 
that  the  religion  of  the  Sentimentalist  has  its  origin. — 
There  is  a  chord  strung  in  our  nature  that  vibrates  to 
the  power  of  nuisick  or  eloquence,  of  beauty  or  grandeur ; 
and  if  you  can  get  this  chord  to  vibrate  in  connexion 
with  any  thing  that  belongs  to  religion,  and  at  the  same 
time  exclude  the  operation  of  truly  devout  affections, 
you  have  just  the  character  which  I  am  attempting  to 
describe. 

The  Fanatick  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  subject 
of  the  awakening  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  he 
has  been,  he  was  awakened  and  nothing  more :  instead 
of  making  an  entire  surrender  of  the  soul  to  God,  he  prac- 
tically held  to  his  own  righteousness,  w4iile  he  mistook 
the  bright  illusions  of  fancy  for  the  workings  of  hving 
faith.  And  now,  having  the  impression  thoroughly  es- 
tablished that  he  has  been  born  from  above,  while  yet 
the  pride  of  his  heart,  instead  of  being  subdued,  has  only 
received  a  different  direction,  he  straightway  kindles 
with  the  desire  of  becoming  a  reformer  ;  and  with  a  rash 
and  self  confident  zeal  he  addresses  himself  to  his  work. 
Or  it  may  be  that  he  has  never  been  really  convinced 
of  sin  ;  and  that,  having  come  within  the  influence  of 
some  whirlwind  of  excitement,  he  has  taken  up  the  de- 
termination to  be  rehgious,  and  by  the  aid  of  an  ardent 
temperament  has  been  enabled  almost  instantly  to  w^ork 
himself  into  a  conviction  that  he  is  so ;  and  with  no 
other  training  than  this,  he  fancies  himself  prepared  to 
go  forth  single-handed,  and  storm  the  most  formidable 
of  all  the  citadels  of  the  great  adversary.  If  his  own 
opinion  of  himself  is  to  be  taken,  he  is  not  only  a  true 
Christian,  but  an  eminent  Christian  :  instead  of  being 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  361 

born  a  babe  in  Christ,  he  imagines  himself  to  have  been 
born  with  nearly  the  stature  of  a  perfect  person  ;  while 
the  melancholy  fact  is  that  he  has  not  even  had  any 
adequate  sense  of  his  need  of  salvation. 

But  far  different  from  this  is  the  origin  of  Experimen- 
tal Christianity.  This  originates  in  every  case  in  the 
unresisted  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  divine 
agent  not  only  enlightens  the  mind  and  quickens  the 
conscience,  but  new-creates  the  heart.  Of  the  manner 
in  which  He  operates  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
work  we  know  comparatively  little :  but  of  the  fact  we 
have  no  more  reason  to  doubt  than  we  have  that  GoH 
has  given  us  a  revelation.  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
the  Spirit,'  saith  the  Saviour,  '  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  And  again,  "  Not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  The  indivi- 
dual may  indeed,  even  in  repeated  instances,  have  been 
the  subject  of  an  awakening  influence,  and  may  have 
resisted  it,  and  deliberately  put  his  conscience  to  sleep ; 
but  he  did  not  resist  it  at  last ;  he  became  willing  in  the 
day  of  God's  power  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  God's  gra- 
cious interposition,  he  would  have  remained  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins. 

2.  Formalism,  Sentimentahsm  and  Fanaticism,  ori- 
ginate in  a  speculative,  partial,  or  distorted  view  of 
divine  truth :  Experimental  Christianity,  in  a  correct, 
full  and  practical  view  of  it. 

The  Formahst,  as  he  may  have  been  the  subject  of 
an  awakening  influence,  may  also  have  had,  to  some 
extent,  practical  views  of  divine  truth  ;  but  in  becoming 
what  he  now  is, — in  professedly  assuming  the  religious 
character  while  his  whole  reliance  is  upon  religious  forms, 
it  is  impossible  that  he  should  have  viewed  it  other  than 
with  an  eye  of  cold  speculation;  for  a  practical  view 

31 


362  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

would  have  involved  the  exercise  of  the  affections,  and 
at  least  have  kept  down  a  spirit  of  Formahsm.  And 
while  his  view  of  truth  is  merely  speculative,  it  is  also 
extremely  imperfect :  he  contemplates  chiefly  those  parts 
of  it  which  refer  to  the  regulation  of  the  outward  man, 
while  those  larger  portions  which  have  more  immediate 
reference  to  the  inner  man  of  the  heart  are  comparative- 
ly disregarded.  He  may  readily  enough  admit  in  words 
every  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  possibly  may  stand 
ready  for  a  vigorous  defence  of  the  entire  system;  never- 
theless the  view  which  he  habitually  takes  of  it  in  his 
own  reflections  is  a  partial  view  ;  and  distorted,  because 
it  is  partial ;  for  inasmuch  as  the  truths  of  God's  word 
taken  together  constitute  a  harmonious  system,  it  is 
manifest  that  they  cannot  be  separated  but  that  the 
proportion  of  the  whole  system  will  be  destroyed. 

Not  less  imperfect,  at  least  in  most  cases,  is  the  view 
of  divine  truth  which  is  taken  by  the  Sentimentalist. — 
There  are  indeed  certain  truths  upon  which  he  dwells 
with  dehght:  for  instance,  the  paternal  character  of 
God,  the  relation  we  sustain  to  him  as  creatures,  and 
perhaps  the  mediation  of  Christ  in  some  of  its  more 
general  features,  he  may  speak  of  in  terms  of  deepest  in- 
terest or  most  impressive  eulogy.  But  even  so  far  as 
these  subjects  are  concerned,  he  is  rather  absorbed  in 
beautiful  speculation  concerning  them,  than  in  those  deep- 
ly practical  views  which  they  are  intended  to  secure :  and 
as  for  the  more  particular  evangelical  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts which  are  specially  designed  and  adapted  to  pro- 
mote the  crucifixion  of  the  body  of  sin,  he  turns  from 
'  them  with  disgust,  because  he  finds  them  better  fitted 
to  exercise  his  conscience  than  his  taste  or  imagination. 
Indeed  sO  independent  is  he  of  divine  truth  that,  if  the 
Bible  were  blotted  out  of  existence,  he  might  still  retain 


CONTRASTED    WITH   FORMALISM,  &C.  363 

all  his  religion :  he  might  find  in  the  works  of  nature 
and  in  the  general  arrangements  of  Providence  ample 
scope  for  lofty  or  beautiful  speculation;  and  those  fine  sen- 
sibilities in  which  he  makes  his  religion  chiefly  to  consist, 
might  rise  as  high,  and  work  as  powerfully,  as  if  the 
whole  field  of  revelation  were  spread  out  before  him. 

And  what  is  the  view  of  divine  truth  in  which  Fana- 
ticism has  its  origin  ?  I  may  say  in  every  case  it  is  a 
one-sided  and  disproportionate  view  of  it.  Hence  you 
see  the  Fanatick  always  professing  to  be  deeply  burden- 
ed with  a  sense  of  his  obligations  in  respect  to  some  very 
limited  field  of  moral  or  religious  duty :  a  single  object 
is  elevated  far  above  its  legitimate  relative  claims ;  and 
upon  this  the  whole  energy  of  his  nature  is  concentra- 
ted ;  while  other  equally  important  objects  are  regarded 
as  unworthy  of  a  thought.  Unless  his  zeal  be  a  mat- 
ter of  mere  caprice,  in  which  case  divine  truth  is  not  re- 
garded at  all,  you  cannot  fail  to  perceive  in  the  partial 
character  which  it  assumes,  evidence  that  it  originated 
in  a  lamentably  defective  view  of  that  "  Scripture," 
"  aZZ"  of  which  inspiration  hath  pronounced  "  profit- 
able." 

Experimental  Christianity  has  no  such  spurious  origin. 
It  takes  for  granted  that  divine  truth  has  been  brought 
in  contact  with  the  mind,  in  its  fulness,  purity  and 
power.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  sinner  in  the  act  of  be- 
ing regenerated,  or  even  that  the  Christian  in  any  part 
of  his  earthly  course,  has  a  perfectly  correct  view  of  the 
entire  system  of  God's  truth  ;  but  I  mean  that  his  gene- 
ral view  of  it  is  correct ;  he  contemplates  the  system  in 
its  grand  and  essential  pecuharities ;  and  while  he  con- 
templates it,  he  opens  his  heart  to  its  legitimate  influ- 
ences. As  these  views  of  evangelical  truth  are,  to  a 
great  extent,  co-existent  with  Experimental  Christianity, 


364 


EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 


— nay  as,  in  the  order  of  nature,  they  actually  precede  it, 
so  they  are  the  views  which  Experimental  Christianity 
is  pecuUarly  adapted  to  cherish ;  and  thus  the  intellect 
and  the  affections  exert  a  reciprocal  influence  upon  each 
other. 

We  pass  to  the  next  point  in  the  contrast  between 
Experimental  Christianity  and  its  counterfeits,  viz, 
II.  Their  nature. 

1.  The  leading  element  in  Formalism,  Sentiment- 
alism  and  Fanaticism,  is  self-Hghteousness  :  the  lead- 
ing element  i?i  Experimental  Christianity  is  self-abase- 
ment. 

Look  at  the  Formalist  and  contemplate  the  workings 
of  a  self-righteous  spirit  in  him.  Do  not  suppose  that  I 
intend  to  intimate  that  the  forms  of  religion  are  unim- 
portant, or  that  the  use  of  them  necessarily  implies  the 
existence  of  this  unhallowed  temper :  so  far  from  this, 
the  forms  of  religion  are  ordained  by  the  author  of  reli- 
gion, and  are  adapted  to  its  promotion,  if  they  are  not 
essential  to  its  existence;  and  other  things  being  equal,  we 
have  a  right  to  expect  the  greatest  amount  of  genuine 
piety  where  these  forms  are  most  faithfully  observed. — 
Still  they  are  capable  of  being  perverted — they  often  ac- 
tually are  perverted,  to  foster  a  self-righteous  spirit ;  and 
in  the  case  which  I  am  supposing,  this  is  the  predomi- 
nating temper  that  prompts  to  the  observance  of  them. 
What  is  it  that  makes  the  Formalist  so  regular  in  his 
attendance  upon  all  external  duties,  or  so  zealous  for  the 
order  of  the  church,  or  the  purity  of  the  faith  ?  It  is  not 
surely  because  he  views  these  things  in  their  subser- 
viency to  his  own  sanctification  or  that  of  others ;  for 
neither  a  principle  of  holiness  nor  a  love  of  holiness  has 
ever  been  implanted  in  his  heart ;  but  it  is  because  he 
secretly  cherishes  the  feeling  that  in  all  this  he  is  doing 


365 

something  that  will  catch  and  please  the  eye  of  Heaven ; 
and  that  he  will  find  it  set  to  his  account  in  the  book  of 
God's  remembrance  at  the  last  day.  It  is  possible  that 
he  may  be  under  the  influence  of  this  feeling  when  he 
does  not  acknowledge  it  even  to  himself;  nay,  while  he  is 
contending  for  a  system  of  faith  which  utterly  excludes 
the  influence  of  works  in  the  sinner's  justification,  and 
which,  if  it  should  have  its  legitimate  operation,  would 
cast  out  every  self  righteous  feeling  from  his  bosom. 

It  may  not  be  quite  so  obvious  that  a  spirit  of  self- 
righteousness  is  the  primary  element  in  the  religion  of 
the  Sentimentalist;  and  yet,  if  I  mistake  not,  this  will 
appear  evident,  upon  a  moment's  reflection.  Be  it  so 
that  the  Sentimentalist  speculates  beautifully,  and  feels 
exquisitely,  and  if  you  please  weeps  luxuriously,  because 
this  sort  of  indulgence  brings  with  it  present  gratifica- 
tion ;  but  if  this  constitutes  his  religion,  he  surely  has  a 
higher  purpose  to  answer  by  it :  he  connects  with  it  in 
some  way  or  other  the  hope  of  Heaven ;  and  inasmuch 
as  it  does  not  include  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in 
what  way  can  he  suppose  that  it  will  subserve  his  im- 
mortal interests,  but  as  a  meritorious  service  recommend- 
ing him  to  the  divine  regards  ?  He,  just  as  truly  as 
the  Formalist,  substitutes  his  own  doings  in  the  place  of 
Christ ;  and  the  spirit  which  animates  both  is  the  same. 

And  the  Fanatick  is  not  at  all  behind  either  the  For- 
malist or  the  Sentimentalist  in  the  exhibition  of  this 
odious  quality.  He  may  indeed  profess  to  be  very  hum- 
ble, and  to  have  the  deepest  sense  of  his  unworthiness 
before  God  ;  but  in  these  very  professions  he  shows  him- 
self under  the  dominion  of  the  opposite  spirit.  He  may 
talk  much  of  his  love  to  God  and  love  to  souls,  of  his 
earnest  wrestlings  in  the  closet  and  his  self-denied  efforts 
in  the  world,  and  he  may,  in  all  this,  disclaim  every  idea 
31* 


366  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

of  personal  merit,  and  yet  even  a  superficial  observer  can 
perceive  that  he  knows  not  what  manner  of  spirit  he  is 
of.  He  may  address  himself  to  the  pursuit  of  some 
favourite  object  with  a  burning  zeal,  and  may  set  at 
naught  every  dictate  not  only  of  common  sense,  but  of 
common  decency,  and  may  throw  himself  as  a  fire-brand 
upon  society;  and  he  may  not  suspect  that  he  is  influ- 
enced by  any  other  than  an  honest  desire  to  glorify  God; 
and  yet  the  real  feeling  that  controuls  him,  is  a  desire 
to  glorify  himself  He  may  talk  much  of  Christ,  but  he 
is  not  practically  resting  upon  Christ.  It  is  the  merit, — 
I  cannot  say  of  his  own  good  works, — but  of  his  own 
wild  and  blustering  movements,  that  his  heart  silently 
pleads  before  God,  as  the  ground  of  his  acceptance. 

But  the  very  basis  of  Experimental  Christianity  is  a 
spirit  of  humility.  Such  is  the  gospel  in  its  very  con- 
stitution, that  it  is  impossible  it  should  take  effect  upon 
the  heart  without  striking  an  effectual  blow  at  human 
pride.  For  in  the  first  place  it  contemplates  man  in  a 
state  of  absolute  ruin  ;  and  then  the  salvation  which  it 
offers  him  is  a  matter  of  sovereign  grace  ;  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  procured  leaves  him  with  nothing  of 
which  to  glory.  Accordingly  you  will  always  find  that, 
where  the  gospel  has  exerted  its  power  upon  the  heart, 
its  first  effect  has  been  to  bring  the  sinner  down  as  a 
suppliant  in  the  dust.  In  the  spirit  of  deep  contrition,  he 
breathes  forth  the  prayer,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sin- 
ner !"  His  own  righteousness  is  abandoned  as  utterly 
worthless;  and  he  lays  hold  of  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  as  his  only  hope.  And  as  Experimental  Chris- 
tianity has  its  beginning  in  self-abasement ;  so  also  it 
has  its  progress ;  and  the  subject  of  it  becomes  more 
humble  in  proportion  as  the  gospel  exerts  its  power,  to 
the  end  of  his  course. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  367 

2.  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanaticism,  lay 
under  contribution  only  a  part  of  the  man :  Experi- 
mental Christianity,  the  whole  man. 

Formalism  claniis  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  un- 
derstanding, and  the  motions  of  the  body,  and  the  lan- 
guage of  tlie  lips :  but  with  the  province  of  the  affections 
it  does  not  materially  interfere.  The  individual  who 
comes  under  its  influence  may  possibly  be  a  thorough 
student  of  the  Bible,  and  may  be  famiharly  acquainted 
not  only  with  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  but  with  its 
doctrines :  at  any  rate,  he  either  intelligently  or  bhndly 
avows  his  attachment  to  the  formularies  of  that  branch 
of  the  church  with  which  he  is  connected.  And  while 
he  professes  to  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,  he  is 
regular  in  his  attendance  upon  all  the  instituted  means 
of  grace,  and  nothing  but  imperious  necessity  ever  pre- 
vents his  seat  at  the  communion  table,  in  the  sanctuary, 
and  perhaps  in  the  lecture  room,  from  being  filled.  He 
may  also  be  exemplary  in  his  performance  of  the  va- 
rious moral  duties  of  life;  and  may  not  only  abstain 
from  all  acts  of  injustice  toward  his  fellow-men,  but 
may  perform  many  charitable  deeds,  and  may  stand 
forth  the  active  patron  of  many  good  institutions.  Nay, 
he  may  even  go  through  the  form  of  family  prayer  and 
secret  prayer ; — in  short,  he  may  do  every  external  act 
which  a  true  Christian  would  do,  and  may  so  closely 
resemble  a  true  Christian  in  his  deportment,  as  to  ren- 
der it  impossible  for  any  but  the  all  penetrating  eye  to 
distinguish  between  them.  But  after  all,  there  has  been 
no  quickening  influence  imparted  to  the  affections.  The 
truths  of  the  gospel  have  been  received  into  the  mind 
merely  as  the  materials  for  a  barren  speculation ;  the 
hps  have  uttered  forth  their  persuasion  of  these  truths, 
either  in  obedience  to  the  general  dictates  of  conscience 


368  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

or  from  the  mere  calculations  of  self-interest ;  and  the 
hands,  and  the  feet,  and  the  whole  body,  though  they 
have  moved  by  rule,  have  never  moved  under  the  influ- 
ence of  devout  affections.  Formalism,  however  it  may 
provide  for  other  parts  of  our  nature,  yields  up  the  heart 
to  the  coldness  and  barrenness  of  a  perpetual  winter. 

Sentimentalism  furnishes  in  its  own  way  some  scope 
for  the  intellect  and  the  affections ;  but  it  takes  no  cog- 
nizance of  the  external  conduct ;  and  provides  no  se- 
curity for  its  right  direction.  One  important  part  of  this 
kind  of  religion  is  to  speculate  as  ingeniously  as  may  be, 
chiefly  either  in  the  regions  of  absolute  errour,  or  else  on 
the  farthest  verge  of  the  territories  of  truth ;  and  this 
certainly  is  an  exercise  for  the  intellect.  Another,  and 
the  only  remaining  part  of  it,  is  to  have  awakened  in 
the  bosom  a  glow  of  refined  feeling, — particularly  the 
sentiment  of  delicacy,  or  admiration,  or  sickly  tender- 
ness ;  and  this,  you  perceive,  involves,  in  some  sense, 
the  exercise  of  the  affections.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
doctrines  which  occupy  the  mind  are  usually  of  an  ex- 
ceedingly abstract,  and  sometimes  an  equivocal,  charac- 
ter, and  as  the  feeUngs  which  are  awakened  by  its  con- 
templations are  just  what  such  doctrines  are  adapted  to 
produce,  it  is  manifest  that  there  is  no  provision  here  for 
any  influence  that  shall  suitably  controul  the  hfe.  I  do 
not  say  that  the  Sentimentalist  is  of  course  an  immoral 
man,  or  that  he  may  not  perform  many  externally  good 
deeds  in  obedience  to  the  impulse  of  a  naturally  gene- 
rous spirit ; — I  only  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  his  reli- 
gion to  ensure  such  a  result. 

The  Fanatick,  you  might  suppose  at  first  view,  had 
every  faculty  both  of  soul  and  body  in  vigorous  exercise; 
but  you  could  not  remain  in  such  a  mistake  after  a  little 
observation.    His  will  and  passions  are  indeed  ordinari- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  369 

ly  kept  under  heavy  contribution.  His  bodily  powers 
are  not  likely  to  get  more  than  their  legitimate  share  of 
rest ;  for  as  he  moves  in  a  whirlwind,  so  he  is  almost 
always  moving.  But  for  the  reasoning  faculty  he  has 
ordinarily  little  use ;  and  as  for  the  judgment,  he  gives 
that  a  universal  dispensation  ;  for  he  could  not  suffer  it 
to  do  its  office,  but  at  the  hazard  of  finding  himself  a 
sober  man.  To  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  none  of 
his  faculties,  so  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  are  moved  in 
obedience  to  a  proper  impulse,- — a  part  of  his  nature,  and 
no  unimportant  part,  is  suffered  to  remain  entirely  at 
rest. 

But  Experimental  Christianity  stands  forth  in  delight- 
ful contrast  to  all  these,  inasmuch  as  she  secures  the 
operation,  and  the  legitimate  operation,  of  all  our  vari- 
ous faculties ;  so  far  T  mean  as  their  exercise  is  depend- 
ant on  the  moral  feelings.  The  existence  of  a  principle 
of  piety  in  the  heart,  takes  for  granted  on  the  one  hand, 
that  the  intellect  has  already  been  brought  into  exercise 
in  the  contemplation  and  apphcation  of  God's  truth,  and 
that  the  moral  powers  have  been  quickened  and  directed 
by  its  influence,  while  it  furnishes  a  pledge  on  the  other 
that  the  mind  shall  continue  to  act,  and  the  heart  shall 
continue  to  feel,  and  the  body  shall  continue  to  move,  in 
subserviency  to  God's  requirements.  It  is  the  ordinance 
of  God  that  the  principle  of  vital  godliness  in  the  soul 
should  be  sustained  and  cherished,  under  a  divine  agen- 
cy, by  means  of  the  influence  of  truth  let  in  through 
the  medium  of  the  understanding,  and  that  this  princi- 
ple should  develope  itself  in  a  course  of  well  directed  and 
benevolent  action.  I  do  not  say  indeed  that  Experi- 
mental Christianity  secures  in  the  present  life  the  uni- 
formly right  exercise  of  all  our  faculties ;  for  that  w^ere 
consistent  only  with  a  state  of  absolute  perfection  ;  but 


370 


EXPERIMENTAL     CHRISTIANITY 


I  mean  that  she  contemplates  this,  and  makes  provision 
for  it,  and  if  her  influence  were  in  no  degree  counteract- 
ed, would  actually  accomplish  it. 

3.  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanaticism,  are 
dependant  for  their  existence  on  circumstances :  Ex- 
perimental Christianity  will  live  in  any  circumstan- 
ces. 

As  the  Formalist  is  at  home  only  in  the  region  of 
forms,  if  you  separate  him  from  them,  the  language  of 
his  heart  is,  "Ye  have  taken  away  my  gods,  and  what 
have  I  more?"  So  long  as  his  lot  is  cast  amidst  the  or- 
dinances of  the  church,  he  finds  it  an  easy  matter  to 
keep  up  the  externals  of  religion  by  a  constant  attend- 
ance upon  them;  and  in  going  through  with  a  regular 
routine  of  outward  duties  his  religion  chiefly  consists. 
But  suppose,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  he  is  separated 
fi-om  his  accustomed  religious  privileges,  and  is  thrown 
into  circumstances  in  which  there  are  no  Christian  or- 
dinances, no  ministry  of  the  gospel,  no  visible  church, 
nothing  upon  which  the  spirit  of  mere  Formalism  can 
subsist, — is  it  not  manifest  that  the  Formalist  necessarily, 
to  a  great  extent,  gives  up  his  religion  ?  So  far  as  his 
religion  w^as  a  mere  matter  of  attendance  upon  publick 
forms,  of  course  he  gives  it  up  altogether  ;  and  so  far  as 
it  was  a  matter  of  attachment  to  such  forms,  he  proba- 
bly gives  it  up  gradually  and  imperceptibly;  for  while 
he  knows  nothing  of  the  real  value  of  these  forms,  as 
they  are  subservient  to  vital  godliness,  and  recognises  a 
necessity  of  yielding  to  the  circumstances  in  which  he 
is  placed,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  will  be  much  to  di- 
minish, and  little  to  sustain,  the  interest  he  has  formerly 
had  in  them.  And  when  he  yields  up  his  Formalism, 
you  cannot  calculate  what  will  come  in  its  place :  it  may 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  371 

be,  for  it  often  has  been,  gross  immorality  or  downright 
skepticism. 

The  religion  of  the  Sentimentalist,  too,  will  be  found 
both  to  live  and  die  under  the  influence  of  mere  circum- 
stances. Let  an  individual  of  this  character  have  the 
leisure  to  read  abundantly  his  favourite  authors,  and,  if 
you  please,  the  opportunity  to  listen  frequently  to  some 
favourite  preacher,  and  let  him  mingle  much  in  the  so- 
ciety of  those  who  are  never  at  home  but  in  the  region 
of  airy  speculations  or  delicate  susceptibilities,  and  his 
Sentimentalism  will  give  a  complexion  to  his  whole  cha- 
racter, and  discover  itself  in  almost  every  conversation. 
But  let  him  be  removed  from  this  congenial  atmosphere, 
and  brought  within  the  range  of  different  influences ; 
let  him  be  immersed  in  the  occupations  of  the  world, 
and  obhged  to  take  an  active  share  in  the  e very-day  re- 
alities of  Ufe,  and  let  him  hear  nothing  and  read  nothing 
in  his  favourite  strain,  and  it  is  probable  that,  at  no  dis- 
tant period,  his  ruling  religious  passion  will  be  changed, 
and  his  Sentimentalism  may  pass  away  almost  as  a 
dream  of  the  night.  In  many  cases,  however,  this  kind 
of  rehgion  is  so  essentially  engrafted  upon  the  original 
temperament,  that  there  are  scarcely  any  external  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  will  not  endure ;  and  the  very 
fact  that  the  temperament  is  so  frequently  and  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  it,  is  itself  an  illustration  of  my 
position  that  it  is  dependant  even  for  its  existence  on  cir- 
cumstances. 

And  the  same  general  remark  applies  with  at  least 
equal  force  to  the  Fanatick.  At  one  time  you  see  him 
well  nigh  frantick  with  zeal  in  some  particular  enter- 
prise ;  and  the  highest  efforts  that  he  can  make  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  object  do  not  satisfy  him; — but 
lo !  while  the  object  has  lost  none  of  its  importance,  and 


372  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

he  none  of  his  ability  to  aid  it,  some  slight  change  of 
circumstances  has  withdrawn  his  attention  from  it  alto- 
gether; and  he  is  now  perhaps  quite  indifferent  whether 
or  not  it  ever  be  accomplished.  He  slumbers  for  a  lit- 
tle, and  then  awakes  with  another  tempest  in  his  soul, 
which  perhaps  carries  him  in  an  opposite  direction;  and 
when  that  has  expended  its  fury,  it  dies  away,  and  another 
and  another  succeeds,  according  to  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  happens  to  be  placed.  Indeed  he  is  altogether  at 
the  mercy  of  ckcumstances.  When  his  fanatical  spirit 
shall  awake,  and  how  long  it  shall  continue,  it  is  impossi- 
ble even  for  himself  to  decide ;  though,  inasmuch  as  the 
mind,  from  its  very  constitution,  sooner  or  later  resists  an 
uninterrupted  exciting  influence,  it  is  certain  that  this  spi- 
rit will  not,  cannot,  be  kept  in  perpetual  operation.  Even 
the  Fanatick  may  become  so  dull  as  to  require  to  be  stirred 
up  on  the  very  subject  to  which  he  has  once  been  en- 
thusiastically devoted ;  and  more  than  that,  his  indiffe- 
rence may  become  so  inveterate  that  your  exhortations 
and  admonitions  will  be  like  words  w^asted  upon  the 
wind. 

I  do  not  say  that  Experimental  Christianity  is,  in  all 
respects,  independent  of  circumstances  ;  but  certainly  it 
will  live,  and  may  even  flourish,  in  any  circumstances. 
There  is  no  natural  temperament,  however  cold  and  se- 
vere, however  ardent  and  w^ld,  however  careless  and 
fickle,  that  can  oppose  an  effectual  obstacle  against  it ; 
however  much  it  may  be  modified  by  any  of  these 
quahties.  And  so  too  let  the  external  circumstances  in- 
to which  the  individual  is  thrown  be  ever  so  adverse,  a 
principle  of  true  piety  once  implanted  in  the  heart,  will 
never  be  eradicated.  What  though  he  may  be  cut  off 
from  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  publick  means  of  grace, 
and  removed  from  the  influence  of  all  Christian  society, 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  373 

and  encompassed  about  with  the  most  formidable  temp- 
tations— it  is  not  certain  indeed  that  his  Christian  gra- 
ces will  reach  the  same  vigorous  maturity  which  they 
might  have  reached,  under  other  circumstances — it  is 
not  certain  but  that,  for  a  season,  they  may  even  lan- 
guish so  that  the  evidences  of  his  religious  character 
shall  become  dubious  and  unsatisfactory ;  but  it  is  as 
certain  as  God's  word  can  make  it,  that  that  inward 
principle  will  still  live,  and  will  sooner  or  later  deve- 
lope  itself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  put  to  flight  every 
doubt  in  respect  to  its  reality.  Yes,  let  Experimental 
Christianity  once  gain  a  lodgement  in  the  soul,  and  not 
all  that  men  on  earth  or  fiends  in  hell  can  do,  can  ever 
dislodge  it.  It  is  a  principle  as  imperishable  as  man's 
own  existence.  ''  The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shin- 
ing light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect 
day." 

It  remains  to  contrast  Experimental  Christianity  and 
its  counterfeits  in  respect  to 

III.  Their  effects. 

1.  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanaticism,  ftir- 
nish  no  jiledge^  Experimental  Qhnsimmiy  furnishes  a 
certain  'pledge^  of  a  useful  life. 

The  Formalist  may  indeed,  in  some  respects,  subserve 
the  interests  of  his  fellow-men :  he  may  be,  from  the 
same  principle  that  makes  him  a  Formalist, — that  is,  a 
principle  of  self-righteousness, — the  active  patron  of  ma- 
ny objects  with  which  the  welfare  of  society  is  intimate- 
ly connected  ;  and  even  his  strict  observance  of  the  forms 
of  religion  may  exert  a  general  influence  in  favour  of 
moraUty  and  good  order.  But  after  all,  when  you  take 
into  view  the  entire  influence  of  his  character,  you  will, 
I  think,  find  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  it  is  not  less 
for  good  than  for  evil.  Admit  that  he  performs  many 
32 


374  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

actions  that  are  externally  good,  yet  the  spirit  which 
prompts  to  them  ordinarily  comes  out  even  to  the  eye  of 
a  superficial  observer ;  and  as  that  is  nothing  better  than 
a  self-righteous  spirit,  it  cannot  fail  to  detract  greatly 
from  the  interest  with  which  they  are  regarded,  as  well 
as  from  the  influence  which  in  themselves  they  are  fit- 
ted to  exert.  And  what  effect  must  the  general  exam- 
ple of  the  Formalist  produce  both  upon  the  church  and 
the  world  ?  So  far  as  his  influence  extends  in  the  church, 
it  must  bring  over  it  little  short  of  a  death  chill ;  it  must 
not  only  wound  the  feelings  but  embarrass  the  efforts,  if 
not  discourage  the  zeal,  of  those  who  have  a  living  prin- 
ciple of  religion,  and  who  would  fain  move  forward  for 
the  advancement  of  Christ's  cause  in  the  spirit  of  frater- 
nal co-operation.  If  there  are  those  who  are  ready  to 
halt  in  the  religious  life,  whose  faith  and  fervour  and  ge- 
neral spirituality  are  beginning  to  decline,  surely  they 
will  look  at  the  Formalist  and  will  triumph  in  a  com- 
parison of  the  languor  of  their  affections  with  the  abso- 
lute deadness  of  his ;  and  with  his  example  to  minister 
to  their  comfort,  you  cannot  calculate  to  what  lengths 
they  may  wander.  Nor  is  his  influence  upon  the  world 
less  to  be  deprecated  than  upon  the  church.  Not  only 
can  you  expect  from  him  no  direct  efforts  for  the  conver- 
sion of  men,  but  his  whole  character  is  adapted  to  make 
the  impression  that  religion  is  chiefly  an  external  matter, 
and  that  salvation  may  be  obtained  independently  of  a 
spiritual  renovation.  Nay,  the  tendency  of  his  conduct 
is  to  counteract  the  efforts  of  true  Christians  to  bring 
sinners  to  repentance  ;  for  how  natural  is  it,  when  they 
are  pressed  with  their  obligations  to  repent  and  turn  to 
the  Lord,  that  they  should  endeavour  to  persuade  them- 
selves that  the  sacrifice  to  which  they  are  urged  is  unne- 
cessary, and  that  a  moral  life  including  an  external  at- 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  375 

tendance  on  the  means  of  religion,  is  all  that  is  required: 
and  this  is  precisely  the  impression  which  the  example 
of  the  Formalist  is  fitted  to  make.  Instead  of  being  a 
fellow-helper  with  the  true  Christian,  in  his  efforts  to 
arouse  and  convince  and  save  the  slumbering  sinner,  he 
is  actually  a  fellow-worker  with  the  sinner  in  enabUng 
him  to  resist  the  faithful  efforts  of  the  true  Christian, 
and  in  putting  his  conscience  to  sleep  upon  the  pillow 
of  self-righteousness.  If  the  Formalist  accomplishes 
any  good,  whether  in  the  church  or  out  of  it,  it  is,  for 
the  most  part,  a  mere  accidental  matter  for  which  his 
religion  does  not  provide ;  while  the  evil  which  he  ac- 
complishes is  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the  religion  which 
he  adopts. 

And  I  am  at  loss  where  to  look  for  the  elements  of  an 
active  and  useful  life  in  the  rehgion  of  the  Sentimental- 
ist. That  in  which  his  religion  especially  consists,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  is  being  employed  in  beautiful 
speculation,  or  giving  play  to  a  refined  and  perhaps  arti- 
ficial sensibility.  But  tell  me  how  either  the  church  or 
the  world  are  to  be  benefitted  by  this  ?  It  is  designed 
to  be,  and  actually  is,  nothing  else  than  a  more  decent 
kind  of  self-indulgence ;  and  to  suppose  that  it  could 
have  any  reforming  or  beneficial  influence  upon  man- 
kind were  not  less  absurd  than  to  attribute  such  an 
influence  to  the  interest  with  which  one  individual 
contemplates  a  mathematical  proposition,  or  to  the  de- 
light with  which  another  listens  to  sweet  strains  of  mu- 
sick. 

I  do  not  deny  that  the  Fanatick  may  be,  to  a  certain 
extent,  useful ;  and  sometimes  a  tenjpest  of  Fanaticism, 
in  which  all  the  moral  elements  have  seemed  to  be 
wildly  rushing  together,  has  passed  off,  leaving  us  a 
purer  atmosphere  to  breathe,  and  a  more  glorious  sky 


376  EXPERIMENTAL     CHRISTIANITY 

to  gaze  upon.  Fanaticism  may  operate  indirectly  for 
good,  by  rebuking  a  listless  spirit;  by  directing  publick 
attention  toward  objects  of  real  importance  which  may 
have  been  unreasonably  neglected;  and  by  the  effort 
which  it  calls  forth  from  consistent  and  sober  Christians 
to  withstand  its  withering  influences.  But  after  having 
made  every  possible  concession  in  its  favour,  I  am  still 
prepared  to  say  that  its  natural  tendencies  are  pre-emi- 
nently adverse  to  the  best  interests  of  man.  What  has 
Fanaticism  done  in  other  ages  and  in  other  countries? 
Read  the  history  of  the  church,  and  it  will  tell  you  of 
the  instruments  of  torture  which  it  has  devised,  of  the 
altars  stained  with  human  blood  over  which  it  has  pre- 
sided, of  the  millions  of  victims  which  it  is  able  to 
reckon  up,  and  of  the  wide  spread  desolation  and  inde- 
scribable horrour  for  which  it  is  fully  responsible.  And 
may  I  not  ask  what  has  Fanaticism  done,  or  rather 
what  has  it  not  done,  in  our  own  beloved  land  ?  Has 
it  not  been  a  leaven  of  evil  in  the  best  and  hohest  ope- 
rations in  which  the  church  has  been  engaged?  Has 
it  not  borne  away,  as  on  the  wings  of  a  tempest,  many 
of  the  goodly  ornaments,  if  not  the  substantial  supports, 
of  the  temple  of  evangelical  truth  and  order  ?  Has  it 
not  palsied  the  hands  and  crippled  the  efforts  of  many 
who  count  it  a  privilege  to  live  and  to  labour  for  Christ? 
Has  it  not  opened  the  floodgates  of  crimination,  and  filled 
society  with  wrath  and  strife,  and  made  men  act  as  if 
they  believed  that  the  grand  object  of  human  existence 
were  the  tithing  of  mint,  annise  and  cummin  ?  I  say 
again.  Fanaticism,  I  verily  believe,  is  responsible,  to  a 
great  extent,  for  all  these  evils ;  and  one  principal  rea- 
son why  the  plants  in  this  garden  of  the  Lord,  (I  refer 
to  our  American  Zion,)  are  not  at  this  hour  blooming 
more  luxuriantly  and  sending  forth  a  richer  fragrance, 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  377 

is,  that  Fanaticism,  as  an  emissary  from  below,  has 
broken  into  this  sacred  enclosure,  and  diffused  far  and 
wide  a  baleful  and  withering  influence. 

I  turn  with  delight  to  Experimental  Christianity,  for 
I  find  in  her  all  the  elements  of  an  active  and  enduring 
usefulness.  He  whose  character  has  been  cast  in  the 
mould  of  gospel  truth,  has  no  desire  so  strong  as  to  do 
good  to  his  fellow-men  and  to  glorify  God ;  and  herein 
lies  the  proof  that  his  faculties  have  received  a  right  di- 
rection. In  all  his  benevolent  efforts  he  is  guided,  not 
by  an  accidental  influence  which  may  pass  away  to- 
morrow, and  leave  him  either  to  do  nothing  or  to  harm 
the  cause  which  he  has  been  labouring  to  promote,  but 
by  a  fixed  principle  of  action  which  is  incorporated 
among  the  elements  of  his  renewed  nature ;  and  herein 
lies  the  pledge  that  his  zeal  will  be  enduring.  He  may 
not  be  rich,  and  therefore  his  gifts  may  not  be  large ; 
and  possibly  he  may  be  so  poor  that  he  has  literally  no- 
thing to  bestow ;  but  then  he  has  a  heart  that  would 
disjjose  him  to  give,  if  it  were  in  his  power ;  and  a  be- 
nevolent disposition  in  such  a  casCj  while  it  is  not  with- 
out its  reward  as  it  respects  himself,  is  not  without  its 
effect  as  it  respects  others.  He  may  occupy  an  obscure 
station  in  society,  and  hence  the  sphere  of  his  direct  in- 
fluence may  be  hmited ;  but  in  that  hmited  sphere  he 
labours  both  for  God  and  man  with  diligence  and  fide- 
lity. Possibly  he  may  be  shut  up  through  the  influence 
of  bodily  infirmity  or  disease  in  his  own  dwelling,  and 
may  be  cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  world  ;  but 
even  there  he  is  doing  good ;  for  the  few  who  may  come 
to  his  bedside  he  blesses  by  the  meekness  and  heavenli- 
ness  of  his  spirit ;  and  if  none  actually  come,  it  is  a 
blessing  to  the  neighbourhood, — it  is  a  blessing  to  the 
world,  that  they  have  his  intercessions  at  the  throne  of 
32* 


378  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

mercy.  When  were  those  who  have  died  martyrs  to 
our  holy  faith  really  accomplishing  most  for  the  noblest 
and  the  best  of  causes  ?  Was  it,  think  you,  while  they 
were  busy  in  direct  efforts  to  sustain  and  advance  that 
cause  ?  Or  was  it  not  rather  while  they  were  exhibiting 
the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  after  having  fal- 
len into  the  hands  of  their  enemies  and  murderers  ?  Es- 
pecially was  it  not,  when  nothing  remained  for  them 
but  to  bow  their  heads  and  expire  amidst  the  horrours  and 
triumphs  of  martyrdom  ?  The  activity  of  a  whole  Ufe 
was  nothing  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  compared  with  the 
half-hour's  torture,  or  even  the  momentary  pang,  which 
caused  their  names  to  be  enrolled  on  the  list  of  martyrs 
to  the  truth. 

2.  Formalism,  Sentimentahsm  and  Fanaticism,  yield 
no  true  spiritital  peace:  Experimental  Christianity 
yields  a  peace  that  jjasseth  understanding. 

There  are  two  things  necessary  to  constitute  true  peace 
of  mind,  neither  of  which  is  secured  by  the  counterfeits  of 
Experimental  Christianity.  The  one  is  a  sense  of  re- 
conciliation with  God ;  the  other,  a  calm  and  well  ba- 
lanced state  of  the  affections.  In  respect  to  the  first  of 
these — viz,  a  sense  of  reconciliation,  the  individuals  con- 
cerned may  indeed  and  do  imagine  that  their  sins  are 
forgiven,  and  that  they  have  become  the  objects  of  the 
divine  complacency  :  but  then  this  is  merely  a  delusion; 
and  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  yield  the  same  sub- 
stantial and  abiding  peace  as  would  result  from  the 
reality.  And  then  in  regard  to  the  state  of  the  affec- 
tions— how  manifest  is  it  that  there  is  nothing  in  either 
of  these  counterfeits  that  is  adapted  effectually  to  tran- 
quilize  them  amidst  the  various  storms  of  human  life ! 
What  is  there  to  keep  the  bosom  of  the  Formalist  from 
becoming  hke  the  troubled  sea,  when  his  religion  leaves 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM^    &C.  379 

him  with  his  native  propensities  to  evil  unsubdued? — 
What  is  there  in  the  religion  of  the  Sentimentahst  to 
harmonize  the  various  principles  of  his  nature,  when  his 
religion  is  nothing  more  than  a  species  of  self-indul- 
gence? And  as  for  the  Fanatick,  he  never  breathes 
freely  but  in  the  tempest ;  and  as  he  produces  disquie- 
tude in  others,  so  there  is  no  tranquillity  in  his  own 
bosom.  No,  I  repeat,  none  of  these  counterfeits  make 
any  adequate  provision  for  inward  peace  ;  and  the  rea- 
son is  that  they  leave  the  conscience  with  its  inward 
stings,  and  the  heart  with  its  unsanctified  affections. 

Experimental  Christianity  diffuses  through  the  soul  a 
peace  which  the  world  knoweth  not  of.  True  indeed 
this  peace  is  neither  perfect  nor  uninterrupted ;  for  that 
would  consist  only  with  a  state  of  perfect  sanctification ; 
but  it  is  a  sweet  spiritual  peace,  which  it  is  the  province 
of  the  Comforter  alone  to  impart.  He  who  is  the  sub- 
ject of  it  looks  up  to  God  as  a  reconciled  Father  in 
Christ ;  and  while  faith  recognises  him  in  this  endear- 
ing relation,  his  heart  is  filled  with  the  spirit  of  adoption. 
And  as  he  has  been  transformed  by  the  power  of  divine 
grace  into  the  image  of  Christ,  as  well  as  had  his  con- 
science sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  Christ,  there  is  now 
a  delightful  harmony  among  the  different  passions  and 
affections  of  his  soul ;  so  that  while  *'  Abba  Father"  is 
upon  his  lips,  his  heart  is  like  the  pure  still  waters  which 
reflect  bright  images  from  the  heavens  above  them. — 
Look  at  the  true  Christian  when  he  is  lashed  by  the 
tempest  of  trouble ;  look  at  him  when  he  is  surrounded 
by  the  night  clouds  of  death  ;  and  say  whether  that 
which  you  witness  can  be  any  thing  short  of  the  peace 
of  God. 

3.  Neither  Formalism,  Sentimentahsm,  nor  Fanati- 
cism, ca7i  exert  any  influence  in  our  favour  beyond  the 


380  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

present  life:  Experimental  Chxhimmij  secures  thein- 
ter^ests  of  the  life  that  is  to  come. 

I  beg  leave  here  to  repeat  a  remark  Avhich  I  had  oc- 
casion to  make  in  the  commencement  of  the  discourse — 
vizj  that  it  is  not  every  degree  of  these  several  counter- 
feits that  is  inconsistent  with  true  piety :  it  is  only  where 
either  of  them  constitutes  the  basis  of  the  religious  cha- 
racter that  it  can  fairly  be  put  in  contrast  with  Experi- 
mental Christianity.  It  is  but  an  extension  of  this  re- 
mark to  say  that  these  quahties  may  exist  in  a  subordi- 
nate and  modified  sense,  in  consistenc}^  with  the  requi- 
site qualifications  for  Heaven;  but  when  either  of  them 
gains  the  ascendancy  over  all  other  qualities,  and  be- 
comes the  leading  element  in  the  rehgious  character, 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  it  cuts  off  from  all 
scriptural  hope  of  eternal  life.  The  reason  is  that  it 
does  not  involve  a  sanctified  temper ;  and  of  course,  as 
justification  and  sanctification  are  inseparable,  it  does 
not  involve  that  title  to  Heaven  which  is  secured  by  Uv- 
ing  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Formalist  may 
be  ever  so  scrupulous  in  the  ordering  of  his  external  de- 
portment ;  the  Sentimentalist  may  be  ever  so  warm  in 
his  expressions  of  admiration  for  the  works  or  ways  of 
God  ;  the  Fanatick  may  be  ever  so  confident  that  his 
heart  is  full  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  that  his  career  is 
one  of  unmingled  benevolence ;  and  yet,  after  all,  not 
one  of  them  has  a  principle  of  Hving  faith ;  not  one  of 
them  acts  from  a  supreme  regard  to  God's  authority ;  of 
course  not  one  of  them  has  any  thing  better  than  the 
hope  of  the  hypocrite.  Let  the  FormaHst,  the  Senti- 
mentahst  and  the  Fanatick,  severally  know,  that  all  the 
good  which  their  religion  secures  to  them  they  are  ex- 
periencing now ;  and  that  they  are  treasuring  up  no- 
thing but  tribulation  and  anguish  for  the  future. 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  381 

But  the  blessings  which  Experimental  Christianity 
secures,  have  only  begun  to  be  experienced,  when  death 
puts  a  period  to  the  earthly  career.  Having  been  the 
soul's  comforter  and  guide  amidst  these  scenes  of  dark- 
ness and  tempest,  she  enters  with  it  to  a  region  of  un- 
clouded and  perpetual  day.  I  see  the  Christian  linger- 
ing on  the  farthest  verge  of  life,  with  triumph  in  his  eye, 
^vith  triumph  upon  his  lips  ;  and  the  next  moment  his 
voice  returns  to  me  through  the  valley  of  death  in  a  note 
of  immortal  praise,  which  tells  me  that  the  everlasting 
gates  have  been  lifted  up,  and  he  has  caught  his  first 
view  of  the  glories  of  his  eternal  home.  And  now,  with 
the  Bible  spread  out  before  you,  you  may  analyze  his 
joy.  You  may  think  of  the  palm  in  his  hand  and  the 
crown  upon  his  head ;  of  the  presence  of  the  Redeemer 
and  the  society  of  the  ransomed  ;  of  the  intellect  growing 
brighter,  and  the  heart  becoming  purer,  and  the  whole 
soul  approximating  towards  infinite  perfection  ;  and  you 
may  crown  your  highest  conceptions  of  bliss  with  the 
idea  of  eternity ;  and  after  all  your  view  has  included 
nothing  but  what  is  secured  by  Experimental  Chris- 
tianity :  while  Formalism,  Sentimentalism  and  Fanati- 
cism, each  leaves  the  soul  at  the  end  of  the  dark  valley, 
to  plunge  into  an  abyss  of  horrours.  Experimental  Chris- 
tianity throws  open  the  portals  of  the  world  above,  and 
bids  the  spirit  enter,  and  travel  onward  from  glory  to 
glory,  while  immortality  endures. 

1.  In  the  review  of  our  subject  we  may  see,  first,  hoio 
insidious  and  diversified  are  the  wiles  of  the  adver- 
sary to  destroy  the  souls  of  men. 

He  leads  multitudes  to  perdition  in  the  way  of  mere 
carelessness  ;  and  multitudes  more  in  the  way  of  open 
opposition  to   all  religion ;    and   yet  another  class  by 


382  EXPERIMENTAL     CHRISTIANITY 

some  miserable  perversion  of  the  Christian  system,  either 
demolishing  the  foundation  or  overturning  the  super- 
structure ;  but  there  are  still  others,  and  by  no  means  a 
small  number,  who  are  fatally  deceived  by  some  one  or 
other  of  the  counterfeits  of  Experimental  Christianity. 
He  flatters  the  Formalist  that  there  is  that  in  his  atten- 
tion to  forms  and  his  attachment  to  creeds,  that  he  may 
safely  plead  as  the  ground  of  his  acceptance  at  the  last 
day.  He  flatters  the  Sentimentalist  that  his  refined 
speculations,  and  tender  feelings  and  beautiful  tears, 
evince  all  the  preparation  that  is  necessary  for  an  ad- 
mission to  the  glories  of  the  eternal  temple.  He  flatters 
the  Fanatick  that  the  wild  fire  of  his  spirit  is  of  the  same 
nature  with  the  zeal  of  seraphs ;  and  that,  in  the  efforts 
he  is  making  to  benefit  man  and  glorify  God,  he  has 
the  pledge  of  an  open  and  abundant  entrance  into  Hea- 
ven. But  in  all  this  he  is  doing  the  work  of  an  arch- 
deceiver.  He  has  his  own  purpose ;  and  that  purpose  is 
to  drown  the  soul  in  destruction  and  perdition.  Have 
you  been  accustomed  to  think  of  the  world  of  wo  as  peo- 
pled only  by  the  profane,  and  the  profligate,  and  the  de- 
spisers  of  God's  truth  ?  If  so,  you  have  been  deceived ; 
for  the  Formalist  who  had  always  walked  upon  a  line 
will  be  there;  the  Sentimentalist  who  had  uttered  a  thou- 
sand beautiful  thoughts  respecting  religion  will  be  there ; 
the  Fanatick  who  had  gloried  in  being  the  chief 
among  the  saints  will  be  there ;  each,  with  his  mistake 
corrected,  and  the  tremendous  fact  burning  upon  his 
spirit  that  he  is  to  sin  and  suffer  forever. 

2.  Our  subject  teaches  us  how  important  it  is  thai 
we  maintain  a  rigid  and  co7istant  self -scrutiny. 

If  you  had  some  worldly  end  to  accomplish  in  w^iich 
you  were  most  deeply  interested,  and  yet  were  aware 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  383 

that  there  were  many  ways  in  which  you  were  hable  to 
fail  of  accomphshing  it,  you  would  of  course  use  the  ut- 
most vigilance  and  caution,  that  your  efforts,  if  possible, 
might  be  directed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  the  de- 
sired result.  And  why  should  you  not  practise  the  same 
kind  of  wisdom  in  respect  to  an  object  of  infinitely  higher 
importance — the  salvation  of  your  soul  ?  You  are  Ha- 
ble to  fail  of  that,  when  you  imagine  that  you  are  in  the 
way  of  securing  it:  nay,  you  may  be  very  confident  that 
you  have  made  your  caUing  and  your  election  sure, 
while  yet  you  have  not  so  much  as  taken  the  first  step 
towards  becoming  a  true  disciple.  Do  you  say  that 
there  can  be  no  danger  in  your  case,  when  you  are 
so  exemplary  in  your  attendance  on  all  the  means  of 
grace,  and  in  the  discharge  of  your  various  relative  du- 
ties? I  answer,  if  you  are  that  and  nothing  more,  you 
bear  the  FormaKst's  character,  and  must  expect  the  For- 
malist's doom.  Do  you  dwell  with  delight  upon  the  ad- 
miration you  sometimes  feel  and  express  for  the  works 
of  nature  and  the  beauties  of  religion,  as  if  herein  were 
evidence  that  your  spirit  has  received  a  heavenly  im- 
press 7  Take  heed  lest  the  future  should  prove  that  this 
is  mere  Sentimentalism  which,  when  weighed  in  the 
balance,  will  be  found  wanting.  Are  you  full  of  zeal 
for  the  honour  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  men ;  and 
do  you  profess  yourself  ready  not  only  to  stand  forth  as 
a  reformer,  but  even  to  die  as  a  martyr,  in  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness  ?  Believe  me,  this  may  be  no- 
thing more  than  the  workings  of  a  phrenzied  fanati- 
cism ; — a  flame  that  has  been  kindled  not  by  the  breath 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  but  by  a  spark  from  the  region  be- 
low. Remember  that,  as  the  adversary  who  is  plotting 
for  your  ruin  sometimes  takes  the  form  of  an  angel  of 


384  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

light,  SO  the  counterfeits  of  Experimental  Christianity 
are  sometimes  so  perfect,  that  nothing  but  the  most  close 
and  diligent  scrutiny  will  enable  you  to  detect  them. — 
Wherefore  let  there  be  much  of  self-examination  in  the 
economy  of  your  religious  Ufe.  Accustom  yourselves  to 
accurate  discrimination  between  true  and  false  experi- 
ence. Let  the  conviction  that  you  have  felt  the  power 
of  divine  grace  be  the  result,  not  of  superficial  inquiry 
into  the  state  of  your  hearts,  but  of  deep  and  patient  ex- 
amination. And  let  the  devout  petition  of  the  Psalmist 
often  be  upon  your  lips,  "  Search  me,  O  God,  and  know 
my  heart,  try  me  and  know  my  thoughts,  and  see  if 
there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting !" 

Finally:  Our  subject  teaches  us  with  ichat  all-ab- 
sorbing interest  tee  should  regard  Experimental 
Christianity. 

In  the  series  of  discourses  to  the  conclusion  of  which 
we  are  now  brought,  I  have  endeavoured  not  only  to  vin- 
dicate Christianity  against  the  cavils  of  unbelievers,  but  to 
bring  out  its  leading  truths  before  you  in  the  beautiful 
consistency  in  which  we  find  them  in  the  Bible.  And  I 
do  not  beUeve  that  any  of  you.  as  I  have  passed  along, 
have  felt  that  I  was  attributing  an  undue  importance  to 
these  truths,  or  that  I  was  too  anxious  to  preserve  you 
from  the  various  forms  of  errour.  But  I  must  not  omit 
now  to  say  that  all  that  has  preceded  has  been  subordi- 
nate to  this  one  great  matter  of  Experimental  Chris- 
tianity; and  that,  considered  apart  from  this,  it  can  never 
answer  the  great  purpose  of  man's  salvation.  You  may 
have  a  thorough  knowledge  not  only  of  the  evidences 
of  the  Christian  Religion  but  of  its  doctrines  ;  and  you 
may  be  able  to  triumph  in  any  conflict  with  infidelity  or 


CONTRASTED    WITH    FORMALISM,    &C.  385 

heresy  to  which  you  can  be  called ;  and  yet,  if  you  are 
strangers  to  the  power  of  godhness,  you  will  not  be  the 
better  for  your  theology  in  the  last  day.  The  great 
question  is  not,  whether  you  have  speculatively  believed 
the  truth,  or  even  been  valiant  for  the  truth,  but  whe- 
ther it  has  left  its  impress  upon  your  heart ;  and  if  this 
cannot  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  you  have  no 
pledge  but  that  the  extent  of  your  knowledge  and  the 
orthodoxy  of  your  creed  may  finally  increase  the  hor- 
rours  of  your  doom.  You  may  have  Christianity  in 
every  form  that  does  not  reach  the  heart,  and  yet  you 
may  be  hastening  forward  to  the  doom  of  a  reprobate  : 
it  is  Experimental  Christianity  alone  that  strikes  your 
name  off  from  the  catalogue  of  candidates  for  hell,  and 
transfers  it  to  a  place  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  hfe. 

Is  Experimental  Christianity  then  the  one  thing  need- 
ful ?  Is  it  the  one  thing  needful  to  the  perishing  sinner, 
of  whom  inspiration  hath  said  that  he  "  7mist  be  born 
again,"  or  never  "enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God?"  Is  it 
the  one  thing  needful  to  the  prosperity  of  Zion,— to  the 
strengthening  of  her  stakes,  and  the  lengthening  of  her 
cords,  and  the  beauty  of  her  appearance?  Is  it  the 
one  thing  needful  to  the  joy  of  angels,  when  they  de- 
scend from  their  native  Heavens  to  witness  what  is  pass- 
ing among  the  dwellers  on  the  earth?  Is  it  the  one 
thing  needful  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Redeem- 
er's mediation  ;  to  the  preparation  for  that  jubilee  which 
shall  be  kept  when  the  ransomed  are  all  gathered  home  ? 
Then  let  the  church  fall  upon  her  knees,  and  unitedly 
supplicate  a  revival  of  Experimental  Christianity. — 
While  she  clings  to  the  truth  with  undiminished  perti- 
nacity, and  labours  to  the  extent  of  her  power  to  pro- 
mote sound  doctrine,  let  her  regard  all  this  as  subsidiary 

33 


386  EXPERIMENTAL    CHRISTIANITY 

to  the  interests  of  vital  godliness.  Let  her  renew  her 
zeal  to  send  the  gospel  abroad  to  earth's  remotest  bounds ; 
but  with  every  eflfort  in  this  hallowed  cause  let  her  con- 
nect a  prayer  that  the  power  of  the  gospel  may  spread 
with  its  light,  till  the  last  moral  desert  on  earth  shall 
disappear,  and  the  angels  shall  again  take  up  the  song 
of  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,"  because  Christianity, 
daughter  of  the  skies,  has  done  her  perfect  w^ork  ! 


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